Here are previews for tonight’s light, yet quality-over-quantity foursome of games. As usual all start times are Eastern Standard Time (ET).
7:30 pm
Pittsburgh @ Montreal
The Penguins are still in reasonable contention for the top spot in the Atlantic Division and the East, but they need to stop tumbling (even without captain Sidney Crosby). They’re currently on a three game losing streak while Montreal - the Northeast Division’s second place team - is on a three game winning streak. Just when it seemed like these two teams were following a pattern, it seems like they both reversed paths.
Washington @ Tampa Bay
As we discussed in an earlier post, this is more of a “measuring stick game” for the Lightning than the Capitals in the grand scheme of things. Yet in the context of right now, it’s a big game for both teams. Whoever wins this game will take the lead in the Southeast Division, as they’re currently only separated by tiebreakers.
The Lightning have a -9 goal differential while the Capitals are +13, so you’d think they wouldn’t be locked up right now, but we’ll see how it plays out on the ice.
8:30 pm
Colorado @ Chicago
While these teams sport their fair share of warts, they both can bring a lot of offense to the table (Colorado scored 144 goals so far, Chicago scored 138) so this should be an entertaining match. The Blackhawks only have 16 games left at home this season, so they need to make it count if they want to cling to their playoff spot.
10:00 pm
St. Louis @ Anaheim
One stunning (and strange) trend: every team outside of the top eight in the West is on a losing streak of some kind right now. The worst part of the Blues’ four game losing streak (0-3-1) is that three of those defeats came at home, where they’re usually stout. Their next three games are away from St. Louis, so they need to beat the also home-dependent Ducks.
Both teams are banged up, with the Blues lacking a few forwards because of injuries while the Ducks must live on without power forward Ryan Getzlaf.
