NHL Previews

Entering this week, the Nashville Predators and Colorado Avalanche were two of the NHL’s hottest teams and each had a point streak to back it up. When the teams meet in Denver on Saturday for a late matinee game, there will be new streaks to begin. The Predators (43-26-4, 90 points) fell 8-4 at Arizona on Thursday night and had their 18-game points streak ended. Nashville was 16-0-2 in that stretch and had not lost

Facing some of the NHL’s other top teams of late, the New York Rangers acquitted themselves well and more importantly padded their point total to stay atop the Metropolitan Division. The NHL-best Rangers are surging again after a brief lull a few weeks ago and will attempt to get their fifth straight win Saturday when they visit the Arizona Coyotes in Tempe, Ariz. The Rangers (49-20-4, 102 points) are on the verge of their sixth

The Vegas Golden Knights will finish a four-game road trip when they face off against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday afternoon in Saint Paul, Minn. Vegas (40-25-8, 88 points) has gone 2-0-1 on the road trip to bolster its playoff positioning in the Western Conference. The Golden Knights have recorded at least one point in the standings in five straight games and in eight of their last 10. “We’re getting a little bit healthier and

The Edmonton Oilers will look for the sweep of the season series when they host the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday for the fourth and final meeting between the two clubs. The Oilers have outscored the Ducks 20-7 in the three meetings this season, most recently picking up a 5-3 victory in Anaheim on Feb. 9. Edmonton, second in the Pacific Division, sits six points back of the Vancouver Canucks for the division lead with two

It promises to be a battle between two good, albeit struggling teams, on Saturday afternoon when the Detroit Red Wings visit the Florida Panthers in Sunrise, Fla. The Panthers (46-22-5, 97 points) have clinched a playoff spot. That happened on Thursday. But there wasn’t much joy in that since Florida also fell for the sixth time in seven games (1-5-1) with a 3-2 setback to the New York Islanders. Detroit, which has lost three straight

The New Jersey Devils hope to continue their postseason push while keeping the host Buffalo Sabres behind in the playoff race when the two teams meet on Friday. The Devils are chasing both the Washington Capitals and Detroit Red Wings for the final Eastern Conference wild-card position. While only three points separate New Jersey (36-33-4, 76 points) and Buffalo (34-34-5, 73 points), the two clubs seem far apart in terms of recent form. After picking

The Chicago Blackhawks will shoot for their first three-game winning streak of the season when they visit the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night. The Blackhawks (21-46-5, 47 points) are coming off a 3-1 win against the visiting Calgary Flames on Tuesday, which followed a 5-4 overtime road victory against the San Jose Sharks on Saturday. Chicago has won two in a row just two other times this season, on Dec. 7-9 against the Anaheim Ducks

The Western Conference’s two division leaders go head to head when the Vancouver Canucks play host to the Dallas Stars on Thursday. While the Pacific-leading Canucks (45-19-8, 98 points) have an eight-point edge in their quest for a division banner, the Stars (45-19-9, 99 points) are in a double dogfight. As they continue a four-game road swing, the Stars are just one point ahead of the Colorado Avalanche for the top spot in the Central.

After tying the team record for fewest shots on goal in a game, the Anaheim Ducks get a chance to redeem themselves against the team that shut them down when they face the host Seattle Kraken on Thursday night. It’s the second game of a two-game set in Seattle that began with the Kraken (29-29-13, 71 points) snapping an eight-game losing streak with a 4-0 win on Tuesday night. Joey Daccord needed to make just