NHL Previews

The Toronto Maple Leafs will be out to improve their defense and end a four-game losing streak when they meet the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning Monday night. The Maple Leafs opened a five-game homestand with a 6-4 loss to the Buffalo Sabres Saturday despite a hat trick by Auston Matthews. Mitchell Marner added a goal and three assists. The Lightning, meanwhile, did not waste a hat trick by Brayden Point Saturday when they defeated the

When the Columbus Blue Jackets visit the Florida Panthers on Monday night in Sunrise, Fla., it will be a battle of teams looking for an offensive boost. Columbus has lost five of its past six games, including a 2-1 defeat at the Washington Capitals on Saturday. In that game, Columbus went 0-for-4 with the man advantage. For the season, the Blue Jackets rank 26th in power-play percentage (12.8). First-year head coach Pascal Vincent is optimistic,

Revived under new head coach Greg Cronin, the Anaheim Ducks will be put to the test Sunday night when they host the reigning Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights. Cronin was begging for some selfishness from his forwards early in the season, saying they seemed more interested in making the perfect pass. While imploring for more shots, he was really interested in his scorers taking shots as soon as those shots presented themselves. After a

Sunday night’s game between the Chicago Blackhawks and visiting New Jersey Devils initially shaped up as a matchup of two of the past five top overall picks in the NHL draft. An upper-body injury to New Jersey star forward Jack Hughes, however, figures to shine more of the spotlight on Chicago’s Connor Bedard, the No. 1 selection in 2023. Hughes’ status remained uncertain after he left during the first period of Friday’s 4-1 loss at

The Los Angeles Kings will try to remain perfect on the road this season when they continue their four-game trek against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday night. The Kings, who opened the trip with a 4-1 victory at Toronto on Tuesday, improved to an NHL-best 5-0-0 on the road with a 3-2 win at Ottawa on Thursday. After the Saturday game, they will fly home to Los Angeles before heading to Las Vegas to the

Last season, the rebuilding Montreal Canadiens stayed focused on player development while sliding to their 31-45-6 finish. This season they are looking to translate growth into more victories. “The group steered us in that direction,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said. “We have to make decisions that help us get the two points, but also we have to factor in the youth of our club and where we want to be.” Montreal earned points in

The Toronto Maple Leafs will be out to end a three-game losing streak Saturday night when they open a five-game homestand against the Buffalo Sabres. The Sabres should be highly motivated after taking a 5-1 home loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday night. The Maple Leafs lost 3-2 in a shootout against the host Boston Bruins on Thursday. Toronto also lost 3-2 in overtime to the host Nashville Predators on Oct. 28 and 4-1

The high-flying Dallas Stars haven’t skipped a beat from last season as they get set on Saturday to visit the equally-hot Vancouver Canucks, who are making an early case for the NHL’s best Canadian team. The Stars are one of a handful of preseason favorites to challenge for the Stanley Cup, while Vancouver is raising eyebrows for its ability to win consistently on the road. Both teams have 15 points. Dallas is looking for its

The New York Rangers will try to extend their NHL-best winning streak to seven games in a row when they visit the Minnesota Wild on Saturday evening in St. Paul, Minn. New York is coming off a 2-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday. The Rangers have raced to an 8-2-0 start, which represents their second-best start after 10 games in franchise history. Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba credited head coach Peter Laviolette and the