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Around the rink - Wednesday, December 22nd

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It’s another night for a showdown in the Western Conference featuring the Detroit Red Wings. This time it’s the Vancouver Canucks that come rolling into Detroit. With it being a light night on the schedule, this one stands out as the must-see game of the night. All times listed are Eastern.

7:00 pm

Tampa Bay @ NY Islanders

No Rick DiPietro for the Islanders as he’s back on the IR. Dwayne Roloson gets to be the main man again for the woeful Islanders. Facing the streaking Lightning might not be what they were looking forward to doing. Tampa’s won four in a row but they’ll have to hope Dan Ellis can take the reigns effectively with Mike Smith feeling banged up. The Isles better be ready to stop Steve Stamkos as he’s got four goals in the last four games for the Lightning.

Florida @ Pittsburgh

Both of these teams come into this one after blowout wins on Monday night. The Panthers disposed of Philly in quick order while the Penguins dismantled a sloppy Phoenix team. The Pens are coming into this one looking more dangerous than usual. Sure, Sidney Crosby still has his point streak going strong but now Evgeni Malkin is back and healthy and killing it. Malkin had two goals and three assists against Phoenix and has looked like the former Art Ross Trophy winner once again. That bodes poorly for the Panthers who hope to end up in a lower scoring affair. At least they’ve got Tomas Vokoun on their side to help them do that. Vokoun has four shutouts this season after earning a big one against Philadelphia.

7:30 pm

Vancouver @ Detroit

The Canucks sit tied atop the Northwest Division with Colorado and two points behind Detroit for second place in the Western Conference. It’s not playoff push time, but it still speaks to how good these teams are. Vancouver rolls into town winners of four in a row and looking good defensively while doing it giving up five goals in those four games. Detroit meanwhile has dropped their last two games and three of their last four. A win over Vancouver would be a solid sign of getting things back to normal in Detroit, otherwise it’s time for the fans to start fretting.

8:30 pm

Nashville @ Chicago

The Predators are back in action for the first time since Saturday after getting thumped by L.A. The time off helps them out and Anders Lindback will get to keep playing goal for the meantime. The Preds had won six in a row before that. Chicago comes in with a two game win streak and they’ve done it on the strength of Corey Crawford. For Lindback, stuffing the Chicago offense that’s still without Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa, and Viktor Stalberg makes the effort seem easier but over the last four games the Hawks have scored 15 goals. It’s stunning that they’ve lost two of those four.