SAN JOSE – Fans who attend San Jose Sharks home games this season will, for the most part, have to arrive a little earlier than before.

The NHL unveiled the full 2025-26 regular season schedule on Wednesday, and a majority of the Sharks’ 41 home games will begin at 7 p.m., earlier than the 7:30 p.m. start that had been the norm for the team’s games at SAP Center.

The Sharks will also play more afternoon games than usual, with eight home dates starting at 1 p.m., including five on Saturdays.

The Sharks also play 1 p.m. games on New Year’s Eve against the Minnesota Wild and the day after Thanksgiving against the Vancouver Canucks on Nov. 28. San Jose will play back-to-back home games at 1 p.m. on Feb. 28 against the Edmonton Oilers and March 1 against the Winnipeg Jets.

The Sharks, in the past, had 7:30 p.m. start times to allow spectators who come from outside the South Bay a better chance to be in their seats by game time. Television also played a role, with NBC Sports holding local broadcast rights to the Sharks, Athletics, Giants, Warriors, and Sacramento Kings. In 2021, a Sharks spokesman stated that in certain instances, having a 7:30 p.m. game allowed NBC Sports to adjust their broadcast capabilities more effectively to cover all teams.

Twenty-seven of the Sharks’ home games will begin at 7 p.m., including their season-opener on Oct. 9 against Mitch Marner and the Vegas Golden Knights. Vegas made perhaps the biggest splash this offseason by acquiring Marner from the Toronto Maple Leafs and signing him to an eight-year $96 million contract in June.

The date with the Golden Knights marks the beginning of a three-game homestand for the Sharks, who will host the Anaheim Ducks and new coach Joel Quenneville on Oct. 11, and the Carolina Hurricanes on Oct. 14.

The Sharks, who have made several roster changes since the end of last season, play four of their first five games at home and are desperate to get off to a better start than they have in the previous three years. San Jose’s combined record in October over the last three seasons was a dismal 6-23-3.

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The #SJSharks 2025-26 regular season schedule pic.twitter.com/GUlTCrbq16

— Curtis Pashelka (@CurtisPashelka) July 16, 2025

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