The NHL returns from an exciting Four Nation’s Faceoff with 14 league games on tap today. The Carolina Hurricanes are in Toronto to tangle with the Maple Leafs. After rocking the hockey world by trading for star sniper Mikko Rantanen, will the Canes look to flip the forward before the quickly approaching March 7th trade deadline? They face a Leafs team that is in a battle with the Florida Panthers for first place in the Atlantic Division.
This matchup would make for a fantastic Stanley Cup Final four months from now, but both the Oilers and Capitals will have to navigate perilous straits in order to get to that point. Washington has been the pleasant surprise of the season to this point, far exceeding what most people thought the team could accomplish. Edmonton lost in the seventh game of the Stanley Cup Final last year, getting almost as close as a team can get to the Big Prize without claiming it.
This Pacific Division battle matters in the standings, as the Knights, Kings, and Oilers all have designs on top spot. While Los Angeles begin the day further back than those other two teams, they also have a large number of home games left to play, and so far have been a beast in front of the faithful.
Will the Bruins make the playoff cut this time around in the Eastern Conference, and if they do, will it most likely be via one of the two wildcard spots up for grabs in the East? They play host to a Maple Leafs team that has been back-and-forth most of the season with the Florida Panthers for the top spot in the Atlantic Division.
Will the Jets take the top spot in the Central Division (it appears that way)? Will the Jets take the top spot in the entire NHL (they have a good shot)? Will the Jets do something this spring in the Stanley Cup Playoffs? That remains to be seen, but tonight, they visit an Ottawa team that would just like to grab for themselves a playoff invite after having missed the post-season cut since 2018.
While the Ducks are an up-and-coming team in the West, they’ve already proven that one should not take the young fowl lightly, lest they wrestle two points away from you. Tonight, they play host to a Canucks squad that has made some significant changes to their roster composition in an effort to get their team to play up to their ability. Vancouver is involved in a dogfight with the Calgary Flames for one of the Western wildcard positions.
An enticing battle tonight between two Central Division battleship teams, this could prove to be a preview of a playoff series later this spring. It’s a race between four teams (Wild, Avalanche, Stars, and Jets) for supremacy in the NHL’s most competitive division, though it does appear that Winnipeg will finish first in the grouping. That leaves the second place and home-ice advantage up for grabs in the eight weeks remaining in the 2024-25 NHL regular season.
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