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

TGIF: Five NHL games to watch this weekend

John Tortorella

New York Rangers head coach John Tortorella speaks to reporters during a news conference, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2009 at Madison Square Garden training facility in Tarrytown, N.Y. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Mary Altaffer

Saturday: Vancouver at NY Rangers (2 p.m. ET)

John Tortorella returns to MSG to face former Canucks coach Alain Vigneault, now behind the Rangers’ bench. It’s kind of unfortunate these teams already met during the preseason in Vancouver -- why waste such a good storyline on an exhibition game? -- but it will still be interesting to see what kind of reception Torts gets from the Garden faithful. We know how certain members of the New York media felt about Torts...

...and vice-versa. But it’s hard to pinpoint how Rangers fans felt about the fiery coach who, yes, was probably his own worst enemy at times, but also got his troops to play hard while buying into a team-first, self-sacrificing philosophy.

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

We know, we know, people are always beating up on the Eastern Conference with “did you know?” stuff that shows how bad it is compared to the West. So in light of that...here’s some more stuff! The Habs and Leafs woke up Friday in fifth- and sixth-place in the East, five points clear of a playoff spot. Both of them have 30 points, a total that would put them 10th in the West, four points back of a playoff spot. Crazy, right? OK, enough bullying the poor East. Let’s move on to the most important factor for Montreal and Toronto this season. That would be goaltending. Carey Price, and to a lesser extent Peter Budaj, have helped the Canadiens to an NHL-best team save percentage of .935. Meanwhile, James Reimer and Jonathan Bernier have combined for the fourth-highest save percentage in the league, at .929.

Saturday: Chicago at Phoenix (8 p.m. ET)

Nobody expected the Coyotes’ attendance woes to turn on a dime as soon as they got new owners. And wouldn’t you know it? They haven’t. After 12 games at Jobing.com Arena, Phoenix ranks last in the NHL, averaging 12,493 fans. And that’s despite the ‘Yotes going 9-1-2 in those 12 games while playing some fairly entertaining, high-scoring hockey. That said, the hockey team isn’t the only pro team having trouble drawing crowds in the desert. The 8-7 Phoenix Suns rank 27th in NBA attendance (14,512) and drew just 12,731 to Wednesday’s 120-106 win over Portland. The basketball team doesn’t have the “Glendale is in the middle of nowhere” excuse, either. US Airways Center is in downtown Phoenix.

Saturday: Anaheim at San Jose (10:30 p.m. ET)

With just two wins in their last eight games, the Ducks have fallen from first in the West to fourth. Via Extra Skater, here’s how their possession statistics have been trending:

Ducks

That big spike? That was from smoking the Rangers, 6-0, on Oct. 10, and putting 56 shots on the Sens in a 4-1 victory on Oct. 13. Overall, Anaheim remains one of the best possession teams in the NHL. But they weren’t last season, a fact that led at least one handsome blogger to predict they were in for “a long fall” in 2013-14. (Yes, the same handsome blogger who thought the Oilers would make the playoffs. What, you’re perfect?)

Sunday: Detroit at Ottawa (5:30 p.m. ET)

Daniel Alfredsson’s return to the Canadian Tire Centre, formerly Scotiabank Place, the name it was called after it was called the Corel Centre, which started out at as The Palladium. According to Sens owner Eugene Melnyk, there will be a “nice” video tribute for Ottawa’s former captain who shockingly signed with Detroit in July. Knowing Melnyk, and knowing how upset he was at what transpired this summer, that “nice” tribute may actually be a compilation of every single turnover Alfredsson committed during his 17 seasons with the Sens.