NHL Previews

The Tampa Bay Lightning have a chance to move closer to third place in the Atlantic Division when they visit the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night. The Lightning took a step back Monday night in a 4-2 home loss to the Detroit Red Wings to end a nine-game points streak. The Maple Leafs solidified their hold on third with a 6-4 home victory Monday over the Florida Panthers. The Maple Leafs (43-22-9, 95 points)

A disastrous visit to the Chicago Blackhawks on Jan. 19 led to the end of Lane Lambert’s time behind the New York Islanders’ bench. It also set the table for a climb in the Eastern Conference that the Islanders are enduring under successor Patrick Roy. Now the Islanders are three points out of the second wild-card spot in the conference with eight games remaining in the regular season. They hope to avoid another letdown against

A superb first half of the season has given the Florida Panthers some much-needed wiggle room as they barrel down the stretch. The Panthers will continue their four-game trip with a matchup against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night, five days after clinching a berth in the playoffs. Florida (47-23-5, 99 points) is two points back of the Bruins for first place in the Atlantic Division with seven games left for each team, including a

The Washington Capitals will try to resume their playoff push when they visit the Buffalo Sabres Tuesday night. The Capitals (36-27-10, 82 points) are among a group of teams competing for the final two playoff spots in the Eastern Conference: third place in the Metropolitan Division and the second wild-card spot. Washington, 6-3-1 in its past 10 outings, has games in hand over most of the group but games remaining against Eastern powers Carolina, Tampa

Now that the Colorado Avalanche have officially qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for a seventh consecutive season, they can focus on their next order of business. Winning a Central Division title. The Avalanche will continue working toward that goal when they visit the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday night. Colorado (47-21-6, 100 points) enters the week three points behind the Central Division-leading Dallas Stars with eight games left for the Avalanche and seven for

The Vancouver Canucks can’t take anything for granted the rest of the regular season. Not even against teams at the bottom of the standings. The Canucks have nine games remaining before the postseason starts, beginning with a Sunday afternoon matchup against the visiting Anaheim Ducks. Vancouver (45-20-8, 98 points) leads the Pacific Division by four points over the Edmonton Oilers, who beat the visiting Ducks 6-1 on Saturday afternoon. The Canucks need a bounce-back game

After rallying from an early two-goal deficit to win their most recent game and keep their slim playoff hopes alive, the Buffalo Sabres will host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night in the second contest of a back-to-back set. There is little room for error for the Sabres (35-34-5, 75 points), who closed to within six points of the Washington Capitals for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference following Friday’s 5-2 victory

The Dallas Stars became the first Western Conference team to clinch a Stanley Cup playoff berth when they beat the host Vancouver Canucks 3-1 on Thursday. Yet the Stars (46-19-9, 101 points), who visit the Seattle Kraken on Saturday, aren’t ready to rest quite yet. The Stars are just one point behind the New York Rangers in the race for the Presidents’ Trophy, which goes to the NHL team with the best regular-season record. That

If the Los Angeles Kings needed a reminder of the importance of every game, they received it in their last outing. The Kings saw their four-game winning streak end after they lost 4-1 to the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday, dropping Los Angeles into the Western Conference’s second wild-card position. The Kings (38-23-11, 87 points) will be looking for a bounce-back performance Saturday when they visit the flickering Calgary Flames. “We have to forget it,” interim