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 at the downtown arena than usual, with eight home dates starting at 1 p.m., including six 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.

Three Sunday Sharks home games, on Nov. 2 against the Detroit Red Wings, Nov. 23 against the Boston Bruins, and Jan. 11 against the Vegas Golden Knights, will start at 5 p.m. San Jose’s Nov. 22 home game against the Ottawa Senators will begin at 4 p.m.

The latest start to a home game will be at 8 p.m. on Oct. 28 against the Los Angeles Kings. That game is part of the league’s Frozen Frenzy, where all 32 teams play in staggered start times, beginning at 3 p.m. (Pacific). The Sharks-Kings game is the final one of the 16-game slate.

In a statement, the Sharks said they moved games up a half-hour earlier based on feedback from elevated season ticket holders and other fans. By adding more afternoon dates, the Sharks hope to make games “more accessible for a variety of audiences.” Last season, the Sharks had four games that began at 2 p.m. or earlier.

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.

Still, this season, 28 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.

Other takeaways from the Sharks’ 2025-26 schedule:

BACK-TO-BACKS >> Partly because of a three-week Olympic break in February, the Sharks play on back-to-back days 16 times this season. That includes four back-to-backs in two weeks in January. Twice, the Sharks play games home and away on consecutive days, once in November when they host Vancouver on Nov. 28 and are in Vegas the next night, and in January when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Jan. 6 and play in Los Angeles the next night.

The Sharks also play the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers on Jan. 19 and the Tampa Bay Lightning on Jan. 20 to end a four-game road trip.

The Sharks played games on consecutive nights 11 times last season and were 3-5-3 in the second half of those back-to-back situations.

OVECHKIN’S LAST GAME IN S.J.? >> Alex Ovechkin, the NHL’s all-time leading goal-scorer, has not announced whether he’ll retire at the end of the 2056-26 season. However, he is entering the final year of his contract, making it possible that his last regular-season game in San Jose will be on Dec. 3.

Ovechkin, who turns 40 in September, has 897 goals and 1,623 points in 1,491 regular-season games. He has 17 goals and 30 points in 29 career games against the Sharks, his favorite team as a child.

THE ROAD AHEAD >> The Sharks have three five-game road trips, with perhaps the most challenging one — from a travel perspective — in December when they stop in Dallas, Carolina, Philadelphia, and Toronto before finishing in Pittsburgh, all in a nine-day span.

When the Sharks travel to play the Maple Leafs, they typically have stops in Montreal and Ottawa as part of the trip. However, the Sharks will play the Canadiens and Senators, as well as Boston and Buffalo, on another trip in March. That trip ends in Edmonton on March 17, two days after they play in Ottawa and well after the trade deadline.

HOME COOKING >> The Sharks, who had the worst home record in the NHL last season at 12-27-2, have two six-game homestands this season, including one on Feb. 26 right after the Olympic break ends. The Sharks want to climb out of the league’s cellar and will need to be a much better team at home to do that.

PROMO SCHEDULE >> The Sharks also announced their promotional schedule on Wednesday. It includes a Sharks X WWE Theme Game night on Oct. 11, Los Tiburones Night on Oct. 18, Sharkpop/Anime Night on Nov. 22, Next Gen Night on Nov. 23, Youth Hockey Appreciation Day, Sharks/Earthquakes Bay Area Unite Day on 3, First Responders Appreciation Day on Jan. 10, Sharks/49ers Bay Area Unite Night on Jan. 23, Educators Appreciation Day on Feb. 28 and Fan Appreciation Day on April. 11.

The Sharks are also hosting alumni nights on Oct. 30 and Dec. 3, an alumni game on March 1, and celebration nights on Nov. 1 (Native American Heritage), Nov. 8 (Military Appreciation), Dec. 18 (Health Care Heroes), Feb. 26 (Black Excellence), March 6 (South Asian Culture), March 19 (Vietnamese Heritage), and April 2 (Pride).