How to Stream Live NHL Games Without Cable – And Everything New in Streaming for Hockey Fans for 2019-2020 Season

The 2019-2020 NHL Season kicks off tonight and a lot has happened in the world of streaming during the offseason. It’s now easier to stream NHL Network, harder to watch local NHL games on Sling TV, but overall it’s easier than ever to stream your favorite NHL team even if you don’t have cable.

What’s New for the 2019-2020 NHL Season?

• You can stream almost every NHL team locally with Live TV Streaming Service, but many fans won’t be able to stream with Sling TV after multiple carriage disputes
• NHL Network has been added to PlayStation Vue giving another option besides Sling TV
• NHL.TV is $5 more expensive than last season, but with a new HTML5 video viewer — the quality should be better on PC and Mac
• NHL App has added Apple CarPlay and Android Auto support for audio streaming of games
• ESPN+ has increased the number of daily games you get as part of subscription by 50% with nearly 2 per day
• You can still stream 4 free games per week on NHL.com & NHL App

If you Live in the Same Market as Your Favorite Team

The NHL season is finally here — and over the past 12 months it’s become even easier to watch your favorite hockey team even if you’ve cut the cord.

There are six major streaming providers that offer Live TV Streaming. These allow you to watch games live using iOS, Android, Roku, Apple TV, Fire TV, Chromecast, and Web.

This is the best option for fans that want to watch local in-market games, as well as nationally televised games on NBC, NBCSN, and NHL Network.

Starting at ~$25 a month, it’s an inexpensive way to stream your team’s games without having to commit to a cable subscription. When the season is over, you can cancel your subscription and save some money during the offseason.

Our Pick

fuboTV

You’ll get NBC, NBCSN, and they offer the most local coverage of NHL teams of any service.

National Telecasts

NBC & NBCSN

Each service includes NBC and NBC Sports Network in their basic plan. You will get all 109 games on NBC & NBCSN including their exclusive Wednesday Night Hockey coverage (which won’t be available on your local RSN).

This season will see doubleheaders on most Wednesday nights with a early equal balance between Eastern and Western Conference teams. NBCSN has increased the variety of teams on the telecasts, with 75% of NHL teams appearing on Wednesday Night Hockey at least once.

NBC will air 12 games beginning with the 2019 Discover Thanksgiving Showdown on Friday, Nov, 29th, when the Boston Bruins host the New York Rangers.

You will either be able to stream these games with your streaming service or by authenticating with your TV Everywhere credentials in the NBC Sports App.

NHL Network

NHL Network will broadcast ~100 non-exclusive telecasts this season. For the general hockey fan, this is a good option to see teams that play outside of your home market.

You won’t be able to watch your local team though, as games of teams in your local market will be blacked out if the game is also being broadcast on your local RSN.

During the offseason, PlayStation Vue joined Sling TV as the only Live TV Streaming Services that offer NHL Network.

To stream NHL Network, you will either need to subscribe to Sling Blue + Sports Extra pack ($35) or PlayStation Vue’s Core Plan ($55).

Regional Telecasts

Regional Sports Networks

If you live in the same market as your favorite team, most of the games will be on a local regional sports network. You can stream 21 of 24 U.S.-based NHL teams locally on Live TV Streaming Services.

Unfortunately, you won’t be able to stream Colorado Avalanche (Altitude), Pittsburgh Penguins (AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh), and Vegas Golden Knights (AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain) regular season games in your local market.

fuboTV has the widest coverage of Regional Sports Networks. If you live the New York Area (Rangers, Islanders, Devils, or Sabres), they are the cheapest option to get MSG/MSG+. While PlayStation Vue no longer carries NESN, the channel is still available on fuboTV and YouTube TV.

Sling TV dropped Fox Regional Sports Network and NBC Sports Chicago — meaning they only are an option for fans of the Washington Capitals and San Jose Sharks.

Since every service doesn’t carries every RSN, the handy chart below shows which teams are available on each service. Click on the team name to see the full schedule and which games you’ll be able to watch with each provider.

Overflow Channels

Some games that appear on overflow channels may require you to watch on Fox Sports Go or NBCSports App.

TBD

Canadian Teams

None of the services currently offer streaming for Canadian teams:
Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, and Winnipeg Jets.

You may consider subscribing to Sportsnet NOW for in-market streaming.

All Live Streaming Options

You can stream live NHL games with Hulu Live TV, Playstation Vue, Sling TV, AT&T TV NOW, and YouTube TV.

If you Live in a Different Market as Your Favorite Team

NHL.TV

If you live away from your favorite team, you can still catch nearly every game. The NHL offers it’s out-of-market package, NHL.TV, for $145 to watch every team or $116 for a single team’s games — which is $5 price hike from last season.

It is discounted 10% for Discover Card Holders and 30% OFF for Students and Military Members.

You can stream on all major devices like Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, PS4, Xbox, iOS, Android, and Web. This season you will be able to stream audio of games on Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Fans should see a noticeable improvement of streaming on Web since NHL.TV now uses the same HTML5 video streaming technology as MLB.TV instead of Adobe Flash.

Just like last season, you will be able to select home or away broadcasts, watch multiple games at the same time, select camera angeles, and pause and rewind live games. They will also continue to air local pregame, postgame, and live intermission shows. For those on mobile, they have a redesigned Game Center experience to quickly access highlights and plays.

Unfortunately, all games on NBCSN, NHL Network, and local broadcasts will be blacked out. You will need a Live TV Streaming Service for that.

ESPN+

Hockey fans can watch up to 14 games per week during the regular season by subscribing to ESPN+. This is 5-7 more games per week than the service offered last week.

During the first month alone, they will air 51 games with every team featured at least twice. The OTT service from ESPN will allow fans to stream the games on the ESPN App on all major streaming devices.

Local market blackout restrictions apply, so you won’t be able to watch games that are airing locally in your city.

Additionally, fans will be able to stream In The Crease, which is a nightly NHL studio show hosted by Linda Cohn and Barry Melrose. A new episode airs at 10am the morning after a game night.

NHL.com

For the third straight season, NHL.com will airing four free games a week (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and additional night).

You can watch the games on NHL.TV without a subscription or by downloading the NHL App on your mobile or media streaming device.