Wild will open on West Coast Jan. 14, at home on Jan. 22 vs. Sharks

No one-offs.

Back-to-backs against the same opponent.

Road trips that span about a week.

That's how the Wild will try to get through next season, under a revamped setup by the NHL in light of the coronavirus pandemic with a unique 56-game schedule to match.

The Wild returns to action Jan. 14 at Los Angeles, the beginning of a four-game road trip that's the longest in team history to start a season, before its home opener at Xcel Energy Center on Jan. 22 vs. San Jose.

Every game will be played in two-game series, college style, but most series will have a day off in between.

In some cases, though, the Wild will face the same team on back-to-back days at home or on the road; overall, the team has nine sets of back-to-backs during its 110-day season.

Twice the Wild will play four in a row against the same opponent, with two games at home and the other two on the road. That happens Jan. 30-Feb. 4 against Colorado and April 26-May 1 vs. St. Louis.

Game times and broadcast information will be announced later.

Because of ongoing restrictions between the U.S. and Canada border and to cut back on travel, teams have been reshuffled into four new divisions and will face only the teams in their division through the regular season and start of the playoffs.

In the West Division, the Wild will face off against Anaheim, Arizona, Colorado, Los Angeles, San Jose, St. Louis and Vegas eight times each. The top four teams in each division will advance to the playoffs, which will be in a traditional best-of-seven, four-round format. After two rounds of intradivisional play, the remaining team in each division will move on to the semifinals.

The NHL regular season runs from Jan. 13 until May 8, and the Stanley Cup will be awarded in mid-July.

Currently, the plan is for teams to play in home arenas, and most arenas, at least at the start of the season, won't have fans in attendance — including Xcel Energy Center.

With most of its road games one or two time zones away, the Wild will have a lengthy travel itinerary — logging an estimated 20,214 air miles. The team has five four-game trips, with most lasting at least six days.

But considering its recent track record against some of these rivals, the treks may not be as daunting as they look.

Aside from being 6-1-1 all time against the Golden Knights, the Wild is also an impressive 9-3-3 vs. the Coyotes in their past 15 meetings.

During its past five trips to California to take on the Ducks, Kings and Sharks, the Wild pocketed 17 out of a possible 30 points by going 8-6-1. The team's final regular-season game in March before the pandemic paused the NHL was a 5-4 overtime win in Anaheim to cap a 2-1 road swing through California that helped lift the Wild into a playoff position at the time.

The Avalanche and Blues are more familiar foes since they were in the Central Division with the Wild before this temporary realignment, and these have become tough matchups for the team.

Last season, the Wild went 2-2 vs. Colorado and winless (0-2-1) against St. Louis — which won the Stanley Cup only two seasons ago (2019).

Aside from the Blues, the Golden Knights (2018) and Sharks (2016) have reached the Stanley Cup Final within the past five seasons. Earlier this year, Vegas also made it to the Western Conference final when the NHL wrapped up the 2019-20 season inside a bubble in Edmonton.

St. Louis, Colorado and Vegas rank top-three, respectively, in the West Division based on last season's points percentage. The Wild sits fourth.

Jan. 14 at Los Angeles

Jan. 16 at Los Angeles

Jan. 18 at Anaheim

Jan. 20 at Anaheim

Jan. 22 San Jose

Jan. 24 San Jose

Jan. 26 Los Angeles

Jan. 28 Los Angeles

Jan. 30 Colorado

Jan. 31 Colorado

Feb. 2 at Colorado

Feb. 4 at Colorado

Feb. 6 Arizona

Feb. 7 Arizona

Feb. 9 St. Louis

Feb. 11 St. Louis

Feb. 13 at Los Angeles

Feb. 16 at Los Angeles

Feb. 18 at Anaheim

Feb. 20 at Anaheim

Feb. 26 Los Angeles

Feb. 27 Los Angeles

Mar. 1 at Vegas

Mar. 3 at Vegas

Mar. 5 at Arizona

Mar. 6 at Arizona

Mar. 8 Vegas

Mar. 10 Vegas

Mar. 12 Arizona

Mar. 14 Arizona

Mar. 18 at Colorado

Mar. 20 at Colorado

Mar. 22 Anaheim

Mar. 24 Anaheim

Mar. 29 at San Jose

Mar. 31 at San Jose

April 1 at Vegas

April 3 at Vegas

April 5 Colorado

April 7 Colorado

April 9 at St. Louis

April 11 at St. Louis

April 16 San Jose

April 17 San Jose

April 19 at Arizona

April 21 at Arizona

April 23 at San Jose

April 24 at San Jose

April 26 St. Louis

April 28 St. Louis

April 30 at St. Louis

May 1 at St. Louis

May 3 Vegas

May 5 Vegas

May 7 Anaheim

May 8 Anaheim