Tuesday night’s mega card of 11 NHL matchups will be the final opportunity for fans to take in the world’s fastest sport until action resumes on Saturday following Christmas break. While many fans are unhappy about three days without hockey, Tuesday does offer one last great drink from the well. NBCSN will offer up the St. Louis Blues vs. Colorado Avalanche but there are plenty of other games on GameCenter and Center Ice also available for your last fix of pucks before the break. Let’s take a look at the must see action for Tuesday night.
Nashville vs. Boston: The Predators continue to impress in the powerful Central Division where they were trailing the established order of the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues. Best of all Nashville is now much more pleasing to the eyes with their new up tempo style under new head coach Peter Laviolette.
G Pekka Rinne has been lights out with a save percentage of .937 and three shutouts. C Filip Forsberg (12 goals), LW James Neal (11 goals) have helped end the Preds reputation for their past style of paint dry hockey while D Shea Weber leads a defense corps that is among the best and most promising in the game. Boston has been surprisingly inconsistent and erratic as they fight to stay in the last Eastern Conference playoff spot. The Bruins have suffered from a dropoff on offense that had them ranked 21st in the NHL for goal scoring and 20th for the power play. Their leading scorers, C Patrice Bergeron and Carl Soderberg, each had but six goals on the season. These are not your dad’s Predators and we recommend flipping to this one during the night. Puck drop is at 7 PM ET.
Montreal vs. New York Islanders: This is perhaps the game of games to focus on for Tuesday night. The Islanders play one of the most entertaining styles of hockey in the game and their home games are especially fun to watch with their fans fueled by a new found passion that has been reignited with New York’s second place ranking in the Metropolitan Division and Eastern Conference. Montreal has come back down to earth after a red hot start as their offense has tailed off to rank 20th for goal scoring and 22nd for the power play. Montreal defenseman PK Subban remains the most mesmerizing player in the game to watch for both good and bad reasons. Subban giveth with his nuclear bomb blue line blasts and playmaking ability and taketh with his propensity for “What the Puck” mistakes that come out of nowhere.
Meanwhile, the Islanders ranked sixth in the NHL for goal scoring as centers John Tavares (12 goals and 15 assists) and Brock Nelson (14 goals and 12 assists) trigger a relatively wide open attack. Puck drop is at 7 PM ET. This one should be a Christmas treat for all fans.
St. Louis vs. Colorado on NBCSN: This has been an undeniably disappointing setback season for the Avs while the Blues are in “Stanley Cup or Bust” mode for 2014-15. Colorado likely came too far too fast with 2014 NHL Coach of the Year Patrick Roy last season and is going through something of a market correction. It does not help that the Avs have the NHL’s 26th ranked goals against defense while ranking 29th for shots allowed.
What is most alarming however is Colorado’s drop in offensive production where they rank 22nd for goals scored and 26th for the power play. Meanwhile the Blues boast a player that is worth investing the entire night on watching in RW Vladimir Tarasenko. Tarasenko lit the lamp 20 times to rank second in the NHL and has a skillset that is highly enjoyable to watch. D Kevin Shattenkirk has steadied the blue line with five goals, 23 assists, and a plus 14 to go with a physical presence. The big concern for The Note remains in goal where 41 year old Martin Brodeur had a shaky .882 save percentage and 2-2 record.
Star of the future Jake Allen could manage only a .908 save percentage while starter Brian Elliott remains on injured reserve with a lower body issue. Elliott is not expected back until the end of December at the earliest. Puck drop is set for 8 PM ET.
Honorable Mention Games:
The resurgent Washington Capitals are at the New York Rangers at 7 PM ET in an important Metropolitan Division matchup. Washington has begun to respond to first year head coach Barry Trotz and his call for a complete 200 foot game.
The Tampa Bay Lightning will host the Pittsburgh Penguins at 7:30 PM ET in a matchup of two of the top three teams in the Eastern Conference. Each side boasts a highly skilled superstar with Sidney Crosby (9 goals and 26 assists) of the Pens and Steven Stamkos (19 goals and 17 assists) of the Bolts. Penguins C Evgeni Malkin also rates a mention with 15 goals and 23 assists.
