Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

TGIF: Five NHL games to watch this weekend

Penguins fans

Saturday: Edmonton at Philadelphia (1 p.m. ET)

Look, we all know these two teams have been terrible. In fact, given expectations, they’re probably the two most disappointing teams in the NHL. Which is exactly why everyone should watch this game. Nothing like a good sports disaster. If the Flyers can’t get the offense going against Edmonton, we’re not sure there’s any hope for Claude Giroux and company. The Oilers rank dead last in the NHL in goals against (3.82) and, based on what we saw last night in Tampa Bay, it’s not hard to understand why:

Next time, maybe watch out for that Stamkos guy. Pretty good player.

Saturday: Toronto at Boston (7 p.m. ET)

The last time the Maple Leafs visited TD Garden, they experienced one of the most devastating moments in franchise history. Which, you know, was kind of a big deal at the time. We are, of course, referring to Game 7 of Toronto’s first-round matchup with the Bruins that the Leafs led 4-1 almost halfway through the third period. Yada, yada, yada, Boston ended up winning and making it all the way to the Stanley Cup Final, where oddly enough the B’s were undone by their own third-period collapse. Sports!

Saturday: Pittsburgh at St. Louis (8 p.m. ET)

Time for a little Pens fans trolling. OK, here we go. Let’s see how upset they get when we suggest their precious Penguins have had the easiest schedule in the world and have been nowhere near as good as their 11-5-0 record indicates. Case in point, in 16 games, the Pens have only played three teams from the far superior Western Conference. They beat Edmonton by a goal at home. (Hey, congratulations.) They were badly outplayed, at home again, by the Canucks, even though they managed to win that one in a shootout. And they lost, 1-0 -- yep, at home -- to Colorado. Good luck against the Blues. Gonna need it.

Sunday: Washington at Colorado (8 p.m. ET)

The Caps won their fourth straight Thursday versus the Wild and, in a very related story, are starting to get scoring from guys not named Alex Ovechkin. Marcus Johansson, for example, has two goals in his last two games. Nicklas Backstrom has been putting the puck in the net. Joel Ward has five goals in his last nine games. As for the Avs, how will they react this weekend after losing 6-4 to Nashville on Wednesday? Everyone’s just waiting for them to fall apart, right? Worth noting: the Caps also play Saturday in Phoenix, so this could be a tough one fatigue-wise.

Sunday: Vancouver at Anaheim (8 p.m. ET)

The Canucks -- who finally beat San Jose Thursday night -- finish off a tough four-game road trip versus the red-hot Ducks. Sunday’s will be the first of five Vancouver-Anaheim meetings this season. If you haven’t noticed, the Pacific Division continues to be an absolute monster. Here’s a stat to consider: The Ducks, Canucks, Coyotes, Kings, and Sharks are a combined 28-9-4 versus teams from the Eastern Conference. Seriously, imagine if the Penguins had to play good teams like those all the time. Would they even make the playoffs?