NHL Opening Day Schedule 2016: TV Coverage, Live Stream and Predictions

Nearly four months after the Pittsburgh Penguins skated around the SAP Center in San Jose, California, with the Stanley Cup, the 2016-17 NHL season is set to get underway Wednesday night.

The NHL does not have a full schedule on opening night, but all four games have significant storylines to all hockey fans.

The first action of the season will see the Ottawa Senators host the Toronto Maple Leafs at 7 p.m. ET, and while neither of these teams made the playoffs last year, both have high hopes of turning things around this year.

The Maple Leafs will have No. 1 draft pick Auston Matthews in the lineup, and he is expected to give head coach Mike Babcock's team an upgrade in skill level and offensive proficiency. The Maple Leafs are hoping that he can become the No. 1 center the organization has been missing since Mats Sundin was in his prime.

If that seems like a long time ago, that's because it was. Sundin left Toronto after the 2007-08 season.

The Leafs attempted to upgrade their goaltending by acquiring Frederik Andersen from the Anaheim Ducks. Andersen had a 2.30 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage last year.

Game	Time (ET)	TV	Live Stream	Predicted Score
Toronto at Ottawa	7 p.m.	TVAS, SN	NHL.TV	Ottawa 4, Toronto 2
St. Louis at Chicago	8 p.m.	NBCSN	NHL.TV	St. Louis 5, Chicago 4
Calgary at Edmonton	10 p.m.	SN, SN1,TVAS2	NHL.TV	Edmonton 6, Calgary 3
Los Angeles at San Jose	10:30 p.m.	NBCSN	NHL.TV	San Jose 2, Los Angeles 1

The Senators had significant problems on defense last season, as they were among the most porous teams in the league in goals allowed and shots allowed.

In an effort to improve the defense, the Sens traded for Derick Brassard from the New York Rangers and signed free-agent center Chris Kelly. Both centers excel on defense, and the Sens should be much more proficient at protecting leads this year.

The Chicago Blackhawks lost their first-round playoff series to the St. Louis Blues last year in seven games, and the two teams will meet in the season opener in Chicago.

The Blues got to the Western Conference Final, where they were beaten by the San Jose Sharks. They lost center David Backes to the Boston Bruins in free agency and traded goalie Brian Elliott to the Calgary Flames. 

They also lost Troy Brouwer and Steve Ott to free agency. Those changes will make it difficult for the Blues to remain a solid contender.

Chicago should have no such issues. It is still led by Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith and goaltender Corey Crawford, and that means head coach Joel Quenneville still has a superb core at his disposal. There's no reason why the Blackhawks can't make a run at their fourth Stanley Cup since 2010.

The other two games on the opening night schedule feature the Edmonton Oilers hosting the Flames and the Los Angeles Kings visiting the Sharks.

Predictions

The Maple Leafs should be a much more exciting team in 2016-17, and much of that will be the result of Matthews and his ability to create offense. Look for him to score a goal in his debut, but the Sens will get the home-ice win.

Chicago will have another powerful team this season, and it should be motivated to beat the team that eliminated it from the playoffs last year. The Blues are likely to come back to the pack this year after a memorable run in 2015-16. However, we like St. Louis to surprise Chicago in the season opener.

Connor McDavid was named the youngest team captain in NHL history, and the Oilers added burly forward Milan Lucic as a free agent. Look for the Oilers to get the best of the Flames in the season opener.

The Kings are in tough against their California rivals. The Sharks know they have unfinished business after getting to the Stanley Cup Final a year ago. They will beat the Kings in the season opener.