1:00 p.m.
Pittsburgh @ Boston
No Sidney Crosby for Pittsburgh this afternoon and that might sting a bit more dealing with a Boston team that’s coming off an inspiring win over Philadelphia and winners of three straight as is. Pittsburgh has been playing a tougher brand of hockey this year and a meeting with the bruising Bruins sets up for a rough game. The Bruins got their three game win streak started on Monday by beating the Pens at CONSOL in comeback fashion. No doubt that the Pens would like a bit of payback for that.
7:00 p.m.
Calgary @ Toronto
We know it’s Hockey Night In Canada, but this one’s set up to be a bit of a letdown. The Flames are playing the second of back-to-back road games and the Leafs are coming home after a five-game road trip and a 5-1 loss to Phoenix. The Leafs will get Jean-Sebastian Giguere back to their lineup but that might be the worst news of all as the recently sent down James Reimer has been the guy responsible for the Leafs recent four-game win streak. What might help out the Leafs is facing a slumping Miikka Kiprusoff for Calgary.
NY Rangers @ Montreal
The Rangers are coming off a big win over Vancouver and would like nothing more than to put one over on the Habs, who they lost to earlier this week. Montreal is coming off a bad loss to Pittsburgh but have been playing solid of late. Taking the Rangers down on home ice would be a good way to get back on the horse. Both teams could use a shot in the arm offensively as they’ve been routinely scoring three or fewer goals.
Buffalo @ NY Islanders
If the Sabres are serious about getting back into the playoff hunt, beating the Islanders has to be seen as a must. Getting Thomas Vanek back out on the ice and boosting the offense will help but getting a big night from Ryan Miller would be better. He’s been playing a little better of late, but to say he might be a bit hungover from how busy he was last year with the regular season, Olympics, and playoffs might be true. For the Islanders they’ll be looking to snap a three-game losing skid. This is the first of three meetings between these two teams over the next eight days.
Tampa Bay @ Carolina
For the Lightning’s sake, we’re hoping they’ve put their stink bomb of a game against New Jersey last night out of their mind. Facing off with a tough Carolina team might not make for the best follow up game for Tampa Bay. Carolina’s won three of their last four but are coming off a tough loss to Buffalo on Thursday. Tampa Bay is hanging on to a perilous lead in the Southeast division and getting a win tonight would put some space between themselves and Washington.
New Jersey @ Florida
The Devils have won two in a row with both wins coming against the Lightning. Weird, we know but they’ll hope their good fortune can continue against the other team in Florida. The Panthers are on a two-game win streak with wins coming against the Caps and Predators but with different goalies earning the wins in each. Will Scott Clemmensen get the nod against his former team, and second straight start, to keep the good mojo going? It might happen. The Devils will have to prove they can score goals against teams other than the Lightning for now.
Columbus @ Detroit
We’re hoping the healthy skaters for Detroit were wrapped in newspaper and Styrofoam on the flight from Columbus back to Detroit overnight lest they get anyone else injured before the back end of their home-and-home series with the Blue Jackets. They’ll be without Jimmy Howard tonight for sure meaning that Joey MacDonald or rookie Thomas McCollum will get the nod in goal. The Jackets, meanwhile, want to keep the good times rolling after snapping their five-game losing skid last night. Perhaps playing each night for charity might not be the worst idea.
8:00 p.m.
Chicago @ Nashville
All of a sudden, this game becomes a pretty intriguing one on tonight’s schedule. With both teams playing great of late, Corey Crawford having two straight shutouts, and the Wings being loaded with injury problems, the Central Division battle got way more interesting. If the Predators can solve Crawford, they’ll be in business. Keeping the Hawks off the board might be the perplexing battle for Nashville as it’s been their role players doing the dirty work of late.
Atlanta @ Dallas
It doesn’t get any easier for the Thrashers. After a tough loss to Philly last night, they head to Dallas to take on the first place Stars where former #1 draft pick goalie Kari Lehtonen awaits to show the Thrashers what they gave up on. The Thrashers are having a rough go of late and dealing with a feisty Stars attack won’t help matters any.
Anaheim @ Phoenix
OK raise your hand if you thought this game would be a battle for second place in the Pacific Division in mid January. That’s right, no hands raised at all. It is a battle for second and both teams are playing some pretty tough hockey. The Ducks have the streaking Bobby Ryan leading the way for them along with the disturbingly steady Corey Perry. Both teams are hoping to keep up with the Stars in the division. Our hope for this one is that Twitter superstar Paul Bissonette gets a chance to drop the gloves once again with mustachioed fan favorite George Parros.
10:00 p.m.
Edmonton @ Los Angeles
The Oilers were able to make fans in San Jose push the panic button on Thursday night beating the Sharks. Beating the Kings tonight might cause the same thing to happen in L.A. with the Kings having lost seven of their last eight games and fans getting impatient with both coach Terry Murray and GM Dean Lombardi seemingly not doing much to help the team improve. You feel like a shakeup is coming in L.A. and a loss to the Oilers might put things into motion.
10:30 p.m.
St. Louis @ San Jose
The Blues are coming off a strong win over the Kings while the Sharks are plummeting in the Pacific losers of six in a row and playing ugly hockey on top of it all. For a team that was at the top of the Western Conference last year, this downturn is stunning. For the Blues, they want to keep the positives going as their win over L.A. was their first in six games. If they can kick a Sharks team while it’s down, they’ll be able to go back home with their heads held high while keeping pace in the Central Division.
