The Coyotes will open the 2012-13 season with a home game against the Dallas Stars on Saturday, Oct. 13.
The schedule, announced Thursday, includes visits from Eastern Conference opponents Philadelphia (Dec. 31), New York Rangers (Jan. 5), Pittsburgh (Jan. 12), Boston (Feb. 2), Washington (Feb. 16) and Toronto (March 7).
The scheduling format calls for six games (three home, three away) against Pacific Divison rivals Anaheim, Dallas, Los Angeles and San Jose; four games (two home, two away) against the rest of the Western Conference; and 18 games against Eastern Conference opponents. The Coyotes will play home-and-home series against Boston, Buffalo and Carolina and single games against the other 12 Eastern teams. Six teams will not play in Glendale: Montreal, Ottawa, New Jersey, New York Islanders, Tampa Bay and Winnipeg.
The longest home stand of the season features six games from Nov. 10 to Nov. 23. The Coyotes will have a pair of six-game road trips: Oct. 27 through Nov. 8 and March 10 through March 19.
From Dec. 27 through Jan. 29, the Coyotes will be home for 12 of 15 games, with only three single-game trips to Anaheim (Jan. 4), Dallas (Jan. 8) and Los Angeles (Jan. 14). But they will be home for only seven of 24 games from Feb. 11 through March 30.
The home schedule at Jobing.com Arena includes 16 Saturday games, 11 on Thursday, five on Tuesday, four on Monday, three on Wednesday and one each on Friday and Sunday.
All Saturday and Sunday home games will start at 6 p.m. Weekday games will start at 7 p.m. except for Wednesdays, which will start at 7:30 p.m. The Coyotes will play one 5 p.m. home game against Columbus on Martin Luther King Day (Monday, January 21).
Full season tickets are now on sale (call 480-563-7825 or visit PhoenixCoyotes.com). Single-game ticket sales will be available at a later date.
