Saturday: Tampa Bay at Philadelphia (1 p.m. ET)
The resurgent Flyers have now won 10 straight at home, a streak that’s improved their record at Wells Fargo Center to 12-7-0. “I think they’re confident guys right now and they believe they can win,” head coach Craig Berube said after Philly’s latest conquest, 3-1 over the Habs on Wednesday. That being said, it’s still hard to feel 100-percent comfortable that the Flyers have finally figured it out. I’m not denying they’ve shown serious progress, but this team’s had a way of showing improvement, only to regress against better competition. Let’s see how they look later this month when they have to deal with this...
Saturday: Colorado at Minnesota (8 p.m. ET)
If the only thing that matters is the final score, the Wild have been flawless in their last four games, all of them wins. But PHT readers are smart enough to know that’s a simple-minded way of looking at things. Given this is a team that lost six straight prior to its current streak, the fact Minnesota has been outshot 110-57 in its last three games combined suggests there’s still plenty of room for improvement. The biggest difference in the Wild’s last four games has been the play of Niklas Backstrom and, on Tuesday in Los Angeles, Darcy Kuemper. Great goaltending gives you a chance every night. Average goaltending is only good enough when you control the puck, and that’s something the Wild still aren’t doing enough.
Saturday: Detroit at Los Angeles (10:30 p.m. ET)
A Stanley Cup Final preview, according to my pre-season prediction. Yeah, I’m not feeling so good about that Red Wings pick right now. Though it should be noted that I included the caveat that “Stephen Weiss can’t be a free-agent bust.” Does that get me off the hook? Whatever, I’m standing by my pick. Detroit’s better than its record; a 1-7 mark in the “gimmick” is a big reason the Wings are barely hanging on to a wild-card spot. Besides, one team out of two wouldn’t be so bad, and the Kings are very much in the Cup conversation. “We’re playing good,” says coach Darryl Sutter, with no regard for the English language. “We’ve played good for six or seven games.”
Saturday: Boston at San Jose (10:30 p.m. ET)
Without getting too technical, the Sharks have been kinda meh the last month or so. After starting the season 19-3-5, San Jose is just 9-8-1 in its last 18 games, with only five of those wins coming in regulation. Yeah, there have been some injuries, like the one to Logan Couture’s hand, but the Sharks are far from the only team that’s dealing with key absences. Meanwhile, the Bruins should be motivated for this one after dropping the first two of their three-game California trip, drawing some stern words from their coach.
Sunday: Philadelphia at NY Rangers (7 p.m. ET)
On NBCSN. Streaming live, too. Some of you may disagree, but as I wrote here, I really like the way the Rangers are playing lately. They hammered the Leafs, 7-1, on Saturday. The first few minutes of the third period they had against Columbus on Monday at MSG were absolutely dominant. And, of course, they beat the Blackhawks in Chicago two days later. If Henrik Lundqvist can play like the guy who earned that massive contract extension, they could go on a serious run before the Olympic break, with 10 of their 14 games at MSG and two at Yankee Stadium.