NHL Previews

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

The winning formula for the Seattle Kraken is quite simple: score three or more goals. The Kraken improved to 4-0-0 this season when reaching that mark in a 4-2 victory Thursday against visiting Nashville as Jared McCann scored his team-leading sixth goal of the season and added an assist. The Kraken will put that to the test again when they host the struggling Calgary Flames on Saturday night. The Flames dropped a 4-3 decision Wednesday

When the Pittsburgh Penguins hit the road to face the San Jose Sharks on Saturday, it will be more than just another game for Erik Karlsson. Karlsson will make his return to the city where he spent five seasons, among them the 101-point campaign for which he captured the Norris Trophy last season as the league’s best defenseman. “I got a lot of good memories there,” said Karlsson, who was traded to the Penguins in

Thanks to the schedule makers, the Chicago Blackhawks’ most lopsided loss of the early season has lingered through the work week. Saturday’s visit from the Florida Panthers comes five days after Monday’s 8-1 drubbing at Arizona that saw the Coyotes storm to eight unanswered goals after Chicago rookie Connor Bedard scored 28 seconds into the game. “In a weird way, I’m glad we get to chew on this one,” Chicago forward Nick Foligno said. “This

The first meeting between teams one season after a playoff clash often provides an opportunity to reignite some old feuds. But on Saturday night, the New York Islanders and Carolina Hurricanes will be far more concerned with finding a spark on offense and staying out of the penalty box than revisiting the results of their Eastern Conference first-round series last spring. The Metropolitan Division rivals will meet for the first time in more than six

The Columbus Blue Jackets will try to make it two straight wins when they visit the Capitals in Washington on Saturday night. The Blue Jackets snapped a four-game skid with a 4-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday. Columbus fell behind 2-1 in the second period against the Lightning but responded with three unanswered in the third to win for the first time since Oct. 21. “To come back the way we did