ST. PAUL -- The Minnesota Wild's 2017-18 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season schedule was released today. The Wild opens the season on Thursday, Oct. 5, in Detroit at 6:30 p.m. CT, marking the first NHL regular season game played at the new Little Caesars Arena. Minnesota will also visit Carolina and Chicago before the Wild home opener at Xcel Energy Center on Saturday, Oct. 14, hosting Columbus at 7 p.m. CT. The Wild will play 14 of its first 21 games against Eastern Conference opponents, including eight road games against the East.

The 2017-18 schedule consists of 82 games - 41 at Xcel Energy Center and 41 road contests. The Wild's home schedule features 17 weekend games (three on Friday, 10 on Saturday and four on Sunday). Most evening games at Xcel Energy Center will begin at 7 p.m.

Minnesota will play 26 games against Central Division opponents, including four games each (two home, two road) against Colorado, Dallas, St. Louis and Winnipeg. The Wild will play five games against Chicago (two home, three road) and Nashville (three home, two road).

The Wild will also play three games against each team in the Pacific Division: Anaheim (one home, two road), Arizona (one home, two road), Calgary (two home, one road), Edmonton (two home, one road), Los Angeles (one home, two road), San Jose (one home, two road), Vancouver (two home, one road) and Vegas (two home, one road). The first-ever game between Minnesota and Vegas will take place at Xcel Energy Center on Nov. 30, with Vegas again visiting Saint Paul on Feb. 2. Minnesota will play its first-ever game in Las Vegas on March 16.

Minnesota will play each team in the Eastern Conference twice (one home, one road) for a total of 32 contests. Popular Eastern Conference visits to Xcel Energy Center include defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh (Oct. 28), Detroit (March 4), New York Rangers (Feb. 13), Montreal (Nov. 2), and Washington (Feb. 15). The 2018 NHL All-Star Game will take place on Jan. 28 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla.

The on-sale date and pricing for Minnesota Wild regular season tickets will be announced at a later date. View the full schedule at wild.com/schedule.