The Kings will open the 2021 NHL season on Jan. 14 at home against the Minnesota Wild. Two nights later, they will host the Wild again.
On Jan. 19, the Kings will welcome the Colorado Avalanche to Staples Center. Their following game? Same opponent, same place.
On and on their 56-game schedule goes, repeating the back-to-back pattern throughout almost the entirety of their pandemic-altered slate. Only two of the Kings’ contests aren’t part of a multi-game miniseries. During one stretch between April 20 and May 1, they will face the Ducks five times in 12 days.
Other teams’ schedules, which were all released by the league on Wednesday afternoon, follow a similar format — stamping an already unprecedented season with perhaps its biggest alteration yet.