Hey gang, are you tired of the reruns and the abominations that are being passed off as reality shows these days?!?!? Well it’s a good thing that there is an NHL season to fill in the space before baseball season starts.
The schedule looks a tad weird this week with a light load on Monday and Wednesday. However, most teams will see action on Tuesday and Thursday before heading into a heavy weekend schedule. Here are some highlighted matchups that eDraft recommends.
5. Pittsburgh at Toronto, Thursday
The Penguins head north to face the Maple Leafs in Toronto to continue matching up with the Northeast Division. Goals could come in bunches with this matchup after last weekend’s 5-4 shootout win by the Penguins. Nazem Kadri has been a pleasant surprise for Toronto this season while Phil Kessel seems to be hitting his stride in time for a playoff push. Toronto is looking to reach the post season for the first time in seven years. The Penguins have the usual suspects, Sidney Crosby, James Neal, Kris Letang and Chris Kunitz and will look to light up James Reimer again.
4. Chicago at Columbus, Thursday
Okay Columbus, enjoy the spotlight while you can. The Blue Jackets host a pair of Western Conference heavy weights this week to see if they are contenders or pretenders. After matching up on Tuesday with the mighty Vancouver Canucks, Columbus hosts division-leading Chicago on Thursday. If Sergei Bobrovsky can lead Columbus past Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin on Tuesday, they will be loaded with confidence. Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane will look to get the Blackhawks back on track as their season passes the midpoint.
3.Tampa Bay at Florida, Tuesday
On the surface, this seems like a game that no one should really give a crap about. If you take a closer look at the two teams you’ll realize that neither play much defense and there is a ton of offense on both sides of the ice. Tampa Bay is led by Steven Stamkos, Martin St. Louis, and Vincent Lecavalier and Florida counters with rookie sensation Jonathan Huberdeau, Tomas Fleischmann and Kris Versteeg. With all the scoring that is sure to take place, there are two young Swedes in each goal looking for consistent play. Jacob Markstrom is the goalie of the future for the Florida Panthers but needs to be more focused. Anders Lindback was acquired to be the man in Tampa, but has fallen well short of expectations so far.
2. Boston at Pittsburgh, Tuesday
Two of the best teams in the Eastern Conference square off in Pittsburgh Tuesday night. The Penguins have won their last five games with an abundance of offense. The NHL’s leading scorer Sidney Crosby has helped elevate line mate Chris Kunitz to an elite scoring level. Evgeni Malkin, last year’s scoring king will be sidelined for 10-14 days with an upper-body injury. The Bruins are coming off a hard fought shootout win in Ottawa, but will look to make a statement in the steel city. Tuukka Rask has helped the Bruin faithful forget all about Tim Thomas. Tyler Seguin, Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara have been lighting the lamp at the other end of the ice.
1.Colorado at Minnesota, Thursday
The Avalanche will look to continue their turnaround by taking on the first place Minnesota Wild in St. Paul. The Avalanche have Matt Duchene, captain Gabriel Landeskog, P.A. Parenteau and Ryan O’Reilly and some solid goaltending from Semyon Varlamov . The Avalanche knocked Chicago from its haughty perch and are looking to continue a run back to the playoffs. Minnesota is led by Zach Parise, Mikko Koivu, Dany Heatley and Ryan Suter. Goaltender Niklas Backstrom has been hot and cold all season. The Wild will need a solid showing from their veteran backstop if they want to hold onto the top spot in the Northwest Division.