The last full weekend of action before the All Star Break features an outstanding lineup of games with plenty of playoff implications. The parity of the NHL has made the regular season into a virtual playoff in and of itself. Points are at a premium and losses are more costly than ever. Let’s take a look at the best of the best for this weekend.
Saturday
NY Islanders vs. Montreal: Faceoff at the Bell Centre is set for 7 PM ET. This is a potential Eastern Conference Final preview and a matchup of two of the most exciting teams in the game. The Islanders were neck and neck with the Pittsburgh Penguins for the lead in the Metropolitan Division while Montreal fell three points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning for the top spot in the Atlantic Division. The matchup of Islanders Center John Tavares against top Montreal defenseman P.K. Subban is appointment television on Game Center, Center Ice, or Hockey Night in Canada. The Bell Center on a Saturday night is electric and a matchup like this only adds to the intensity.
Nashville vs. Detroit: Faceoff from Joe Louis Arena is set for 7 PM ET. Nashville had the best record in the NHL and has been developed into a team that could go far into the playoffs. Predators general manager David Poile has built an entertaining power from the goal out. Goaltender Pekka Rinne is the best in the world and the Preds defense corps in front of him is the deepest in the NHL. The top three Nashville scorers were all centers to give them the ultimate playoff look. Center Filip Forsberg was a steal of a deal two years ago in a trade with Washington and center Mike Ribeiro is on pace for comeback player of the year honors. Of immediate concern, however, is a lower body injury to Rinne that has put his status at questionable.
The Red Wings are trying to keep their heads above water with injuries to their top two goaltenders. Their defense corps is not what it once was which has put greater pressure on the forwards to light the lamp. Left wing Tomas Tatar had a team high 17 goals with center Gustav Nyquist adding 16 goals. With the Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers lurking right behind them Detroit had no margin for error.
Anaheim vs. Los Angeles: Faceoff at Staples Center is set for 10 PM ET with coverage on NHLN US. This is a rematch of the Pacific Division playoff championship from last year in which the Kings rallied from 3-2 down to win the series. Los Angeles was trying to recover from a bad stretch in which they lost six out of eight games including three in a row at home. Los Angeles laid a 5-3 stink bomb loss to New Jersey on their fans Wednesday night. The Kings still miss their number three and four defensemen Slava Voynov and Robyn Regehr. Norris Trophy candidate Drew Doughty is getting plenty of overtime work which may serve to burn him out come playoff time. The Kings have suffered from inconsistency in goal this month as Jonathan Quick and Martin Jones have been far below par. Anaheim had the top record in the Pacific but has mediocre metrics of ranking 17th for goal scoring and 18th for goals against. Such numbers put a big question mark on their long term playoff viability. The Kings will retire the jersey of legendary defenseman Rob Blake before the game.
Sunday
NY Rangers vs. Pittsburgh: Faceoff from the Consol Energy Center is set for 12:30 PM ET with coverage on NBC. The Rangers eliminated the Penguins in the playoffs last year and Pittsburgh has not forgotten about it. The Penguins are rejuvenated under first year head coach Mike Johnston. Johnston has proven to be the fresh voice that the Pens desperately needed after tuning out Dan Bylsma in last year’s playoff debacle. Pittsburgh trailed the Islanders by just one point in the Metropolitan Division and was slumping with six losses in ten games. Pittsburgh still had championship metrics with rankings of sixth for goals scored and fourth for goals against. The Rangers 3-0 loss to the Islanders on Tuesday was just their second in ten games. New York was also looking tough and complete. The Rangers ranked fifth for goal scoring and sixth for goals against.
