New York Rangers vs. Pittsburgh Penguins FREE LIVE STREAM (10/9/24): Watch NHL online | Time, TV, Channel for the regular season

The New York Rangers will face the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday, October 9, 2024 (10/9/24) at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

How to watch: Fans can watch the game via a free trial of DirecTVStream or a subscription to SlingTV.

Here's what you need to know:

What: NHL regular season

WHO: Rangers vs. Penguins

When: Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Time: 7:30 p.m. ET

Where: PPG Paints Arena

TV:TNT

Station finder: Verizon Fios, AT&T U-Verse, Comcast Xfinity, Spectrum/Charter, Optimum/Altice,Cox, DIRECTV, Court, Hulu, fuboTV, loop.

Live stream: DirecTVStream and SlingTV

Here's a recent AP NHL story

The New York Rangers are still smarting from their second Eastern Conference final loss in three years, months after they were eliminated by eventual Stanley Cup champion Florida.

“It hurts,” said center Vincent Trocheck, “so the urge to get back is a little stronger.”

The Carolina Hurricanes know the feeling, having suffered the same fate in 2023 and endured it even worse after losing to the Rangers last spring. But now the Metropolitan Division's top two teams get another chance to compete for a chance to get through the East, with plenty of unknowns behind them in the standings.

“The Rangers just played a little better,” said Hurricanes forward Martin Necas, who was signed for two more years. “I think we have to find a way to change it up a little bit and get better because we've been doing this for five years and we haven't won. But I’m sure this team can still do it.”

Carolina has lost a handful of key players in its run of six straight playoff appearances under coach Rod Brind'Amour, but still has title aspirations.

Rangers captain Jacob Trouba expects this to be the last shot for his team's core, especially given the questions going forward about goaltender Igor Shesterkin, who is unsigned beyond this season. New Jersey is a strong bet to finish first after signing goaltender Jacob Markstrom from Calgary, but there are no guarantees.

“The Rangers have had a really good year,” Devils center Jack Hughes said. “Carolina is Carolina. I know Washington had a really good offseason. Philadelphia has taken steps. And then Pittsburgh's Pittsburgh. This year will definitely be a lot more exciting to go and I think there’s probably a hungry group that wants to get back to where we were.”

On the rise

The Devils missed the playoffs after a season full of turmoil and injuries, captain Nico Hischier said. The biggest difference might be in net for Markstrom, as their 3.43 goals against average and .896 save percentage were the sixth-worst in the league.

“Goalkeeping is definitely an important, big thing,” Hischier said. “You can see with other teams what great goaltending can do. For us to have Markstrom, we’re obviously excited about it.”

The Flyers narrowly missed the postseason ahead of their rebuilding plan and brought top prospect Matvei Michkov to North America from Russia earlier than expected. Entering the race should only help Philadelphia take another step.

“We did a lot of good things last year, but now it's a new year and we have to go back to what we did well, but we also have to get better,” said goalkeeper Samuel Ersson. “It was a great experience to see that and know that even if you have a good start or whatever, you know the level is going to get even better, so you have to keep building all the time.” Year too and I won’t be satisfied.”

On the way down

The consecutive playoff failures did not change the Penguins' organizational goal of strengthening their aging core. Sidney Crobsy received a team-friendly two-year extension, and Pittsburgh is counting on its captain Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson to shorten father time.

Washington made significantly more changes, bringing in a handful of players under the age of 30 to help ease their return to the playoffs and put Alex Ovechkin on track to break Wayne Gretzky's career scoring record.

The Islanders have done it in consecutive seasons and five times in the last six years and yet continue to be overlooked.

“We are on the right track and I think we have something good ahead of us,” said striker Pierre Engvall. “I think if we keep going like we did last year, we could be more dangerous than people or teams expect.”

In the hot seat

Pittsburgh's Mike Sullivan is considered one of the best coaches in hockey and would almost certainly be hired by someone if he were fired. The fact is, however, that with Kyle Dubas a new owner and a different general manager are now in charge and the successes in the cup in 2016 and 2017 are increasingly taking a back seat.

Sullivan's seat is definitely warmer unless he and the Penguins get off to a strong start and finish in the top eight in the East for the first time since 2022.

Expected order of the target

Carolina, New Jersey, NY Rangers, NY Islanders, Washington, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Columbus.