Every Team Featured on ESPN+ in January & February
Daily Episodes of In The Crease Return with Hosts Linda Cohn & Barry Melrose, Exclusively on ESPN+
The 2020-21 NHL season on ESPN+ will begin Thursday, Jan. 14, featuring a 68-game schedule across its first two months. The early season schedule for the league’s third season on the industry-leading sports streaming service will regularly provide fans with two games each day and up to 13 games per week.
Throughout the first two months of the season, the defending Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning will return to the ice with six appearances on ESPN+. The 2019-20 Western Conference Champion Dallas Stars also make three stops on ESPN+ in Jan. and Feb. The Edmonton Oilers lead in overall early season ESPN+ appearances with eight. The schedule also features 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs rematches, including:
• Jan. 30 & 31 – The Philadelphia Flyers host the New York Islanders in a second round rematch on back-to-back nights
• Jan. 23 – The Columbus Blue Jackets host the Lightning following their 4-1 series defeat in the first round last season
• Feb. 27 – The Arizona Coyotes take on the Colorado Avalanche looking to make up for their first round loss in 2020
ESPN+ will also bring hockey fans the return of its exclusive daily NHL show, In The Crease, co-hosted by Linda Cohn and Barry Melrose, debuting its new season on Jan. 14. In the Crease brings viewers comprehensive highlights and analysis of NHL games, plus interviews with top players and coaches from around the league, ESPN.com NHL writers and more. New episodes will be available every morning following game nights at 10 a.m. ET and available anytime on demand.
ESPN.com’s extensive NHL coverage will also continue this season led by national NHL reporter Emily Kaplan and senior NHL writer Greg Wyshynski. Last season, Kaplan provided coverage from the Stanley Cup Final as the only in-arena reporter for ESPN, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more at ESPN Front Row. Kaplan and Wyshynski also co-wrote “NHL Bubble Confidential,” an eye-opening look at life inside the 2020 NHL bubbles in Toronto and Edmonton. Before the first faceoff of the 2021 season, fans can also catch up on what they might have missed this offseason and ESPN.com’s picks for the season ahead. This season, fans can also expect to find Wyshynski’s unique perspective – including his weekly column, “The Wysh List” -- as part of the expanded ESPN+ editorial offering.
NHL on ESPN+ Early Season Schedule
*Local market restrictions apply to ESPN+ out-of-market games
**Schedule subject to change
About ESPN+
ESPN+ is the industry-leading sports streaming service that offers fans in the U.S. thousands of live sports events, original programming not available on ESPN’s linear TV or digital networks and exclusive editorial content from dozens of ESPN writers and reporters. Launched in April 2018, ESPN+ has grown to more than 11.5 million subscribers.
Fans subscribe to ESPN+ for just $5.99 a month (or $59.99 per year) at ESPN.com, ESPNplus.com or on the ESPN App (mobile and connected devices). It is also available as part of The Disney Bundle offer that gives subscribers access to Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu (ad-supported) — all for just $12.99/month.
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Media Contacts:
Michael Skarka, ESPN – michael.skarka@espn.com
Paul Melvin, ESPN+ – Paul.Melvin@disney.com
Kevin Ota, ESPN+ – Kevin.R.Ota@disney.com