Photo: NBC Sports Washington

Only 105 more days ’til hockey season Caps fans! The Washington Capitals will raise their first Stanley Cup Championship banner to the rafters of Capital One Arena on Wednesday, October 3 when they host the Boston Bruins at 8 PM. The game will be most likely be televised on NBC Sports Network on Wednesday Night Rivalry, even though the NHL on NBC Schedule has not been released yet. 

The Capitals and Bruins played each other three times in the regular season with Washington prevailing in all three games. In addition, the Capitals have won their past 12 games against Boston and have not lost to them since March 29, 2014 – a 4-2 Bruins win at Verizon Center.

The Capitals and Bruins last played in the postseason in 2012, when the Capitals defeated the Bruins in seven games.

It’s going to be a BANNER day at @CapitalOneArena ! Your 2018-19 Opening Night vs. Boston on October 3rd. #CapsBruins #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/Snq4BJRSd0

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) June 20, 2018

The Capitals and Bruins will also meet each other twice during the preseason and will play a home-and-home set to begin the exhibition season. Both will start the set on Sunday, September 16 at TD Garden in Boston before coming to D.C. to play on Tuesday, September 18 at Capital One Arena.

The Bruins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs in seven games in Round 1 but lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games in Round 2. They finished second in the Atlantic Division during the regular season with 112 wins, one point behind the Lightning for first in the Atlantic.

The Capitals won the Stanley Cup, beating the Columbus Blue Jackets in six games in Round 1, the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games in Round 2, the Lightning in seven games in Round 3, and the Vegas Golden Knights in five games in the Stanley Cup Final.

While us Caps fans are happy to see our team (finally) raise the Stanley Cup banner, we would love it even more if it was against the Penguins, who entered the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs as the back-to-back Stanley Cup Champions and ousted the Capitals in the second round for consecutive seasons after Washington won the Presidents’ Trophy as the league’s best team. In 2016, the NHL made Washington the opponent for the Penguins’ home opener when they raised their Stanley Cup banner. The Penguins won 3-2 in a shootout. Instead, the Penguins will host the Capitals the following day after the Caps raise their banner at PPG Paints Arena at 7 PM for Pittsburgh’s home opener.

The New Jersey Devils will also have their home opener against the Capitals on Thursday, October 11 at Prudential Center in Newark.

The full NHL schedule will be released at 5 PM tomorrow. For the full list of NHL home openers, click here.

By Harrison Brown