A showdown between the game’s most dangerous offensive player and its stingiest goaltender highlight an intriguing night in the National Hockey League. Here are a few major story lines we’ll be watching.
Hottest goalie vs. hottest scorer in chilly Minnesota
Led by the best goalie of the season, the Minnesota Wild has been sitting at home waiting for its rematch against the Edmonton Oilers, whom they’ll catch on the easy end of a back-to-back.
Connor McDavid made headlines last night, scoring his first power-play goal, chirping the Philadelphia Flyers, and sounding off that a “classless” Brandon Manning injured him on purpose last season. McDavid leads all his peers in scoring this season, yet the Oilers have started a trend of blowing leads, as they did in Philly.
The Oilers lost in overtime to the Wild in Edmonton less than a week ago, and lost Thursday night in Philadelphia 6-5, after letting a 5-3 third-period slip away.
“I think it’s a group, and we’re still trying to learn how to win games,” McDavid said. “We were doing a good job at it early. There’s definitely a certain talent to be able to win games and close them out. I think we’re still trying to figure that part out.”
Thanks to Devan Dubnyk, the Wild closed out its most recent game, clinging to a one-goal victory in Toronto despite a barrage of shots from the Maple Leafs in the third period.
Original Six doozy in Windy City
The Chicago Blackhawks host the New York Rangers for the only time this season, and both historic franchises rank among the very top in their respective conferences.
The downside here is that both rosters are not at their strongest, as star power has been sapped due to injury. Blackhawks No. 1 goalie Corey Crawford, best centre Jonathan Toews and top-pair defenceman Brent Seabrook are all injured. The Rangers are without Rick Nash (groin), and rookie Jimmy Vesey — who was courted by Chicago this summer — may not play due to an upper-body injury.
Fun fact: The Rangers own the East’s best goal differential (plus-29) while the Blackhawks hold that distinction in the West (plus-10).
California hate
California has owned the Pacific Division in recent years, but typical powers like San Jose at Anaheim — set to clash Friday night at Honda Center — wake up to see Alberta’s teams, Edmonton and Calgary, ahead of them in the race.
The Sharks, Stanley Cup finalists last spring, rank near the bottom of the NHL in goals scored with 62 (2.38 per game). Franchise defenceman Brent Burns leads the Sharks with 11 goals. Nice for Burns, but coach Peter DeBoer needs more production from his forwards. In their past 11 games, the Sharks scored two or fewer goals eight times.
“Against anybody, if you play the way we have been — starting the right way, with good breakouts and a good forecheck — no matter who you’re playing, you’ll have success,” Vlassic told the San Jose Mercury News. “If you do it on a nightly basis, you’ll get rewarded.”
The Ducks’ penalty kill is flailing, so this rivalry game presents a good opportunity for the Sharks to find their scoring touch.
