Huge night on the calendar.
Rangers vs Canes in a battle for first in the Metro. Lets goooo boys!
B’s vs Blues. Bruins are 1pt behind the Lightning for 3rd In the Atlantic. B’s lost 2 of their last 3. Blues have won 5 in a row. They now have a commanding lead on Preds, but are tied with Wild so it’s a battle for 2nd and 3rd in the Central.
Leafs play the Sabres. They have a 4pt lead on the Lightning in the Atlantic. For the Sabres, Owen Power makes his NHL debut. Likely will be on the 2nd pairing with Jokiharju. New era for the Sabres defense. Interesting that the Sabres have outscored the Leafs 14-8 in their last three outings.
Wings play the Sens. Meh!
Oilers at the Wild. Wild again tied with Blues in points with 94 each. Wild have a game in hand. They recently lost 2 out of their last 3. The Oil have a 4pt lead on Kings. They also have a game in hand on them. Oilers have won 4 out of 5 games for the month of April. They turned it on when It mattered in a close race in the West.
Kracken vs the Flames. Flames sitting pretty in atop the Pacific with a 7pt lead over the Oil. For the Kracken, no official word if newly signed Matty Beniers will suit up. He is with the team and practiced yesterday. In practice he skated on the top line centering Ryan Donato and Jordan Eberle.
Devils vs the Yotes. Meh!
Ducks vs the Panthers. Panthers have a commanding lead on the Eastern Conference. Since the trade deadline the Panthers have won 9 out of 10 games. Hopefully they burn out!
Flyers vs Caps. Caps 5 points behind the Bruins for the last wildcard spot. For the Flyers, welcome Bobby Brink to the big show! Brink just won the NCAA scoring title for Denver and also was a huge factor in Denver’s victory over the Michigan Wolverines in the NCAA Championship. Quite a season for him.
Pens vs the Isles. Pens head into UBS Malkin-less, as he is serving a 4 game suspension for his cross check on Borowiecki. This is actually the Isles 1st home game at UBS for the month of April.
Sharks vs the Preds. Meaningless game for Sharks, but for the Preds. They’re not going to catch the Blues in the division so they have to cling onto the wildcard. They are only 1 up on the Stars but they are 3 ahead of the surging Knights. Wild race is tightening in the West.
Kings vs the Hawks. Kings are the team to watch in the West. They are 2 points ahead of Vegas for 3rd in the Pacific. Vegas has a game in hand on them. Kings have lost 3 games in a row, and they play both tonight and tomorrow vs Hawks and then the Avs.
Lightning play the Stars. They are 4pts behind Leafs, and only 1 pt ahead of the B’s. Important game for them as they find themselves out of 3rd and into a wildcard if they lose and the Bruins take a pt. vs the Blues. For the Stars they are clinging onto the last wildcard spot. 1 Behind the Preds, 2 ahead of the Knights.
Knights vs the Canucks. Knights have won 6 of their last 7 games. Currently they are still outside a wildcard spot but a W tonight will put them in 3rd in the Pacific, providing the Kings lose in regulation. The Canucks technically not out of WC contention, but facing a team they consistently have troubles with. 3-8-2 since the Knights joined the league.