A Western Conference showdown between two of the top teams in the West. The Blues won the Stanley Cup in 2019 and are still considered one of the teams that could repeat that feat this spring. Are the Oilers in that group? They made it to the Western Conference Final this past spring before falling in four games to the eventual Cup champion Colorado Avalanche.
Not many people picked either of these teams to qualify for the post-season this time around, but the Flyers won their first two games of the season, and the promise of better days suddenly doesn’t seem as far away. Head coach John Tortorella promised that his Philly team would be more difficult to play against, and so far, they have delivered on that promise, winning their first three games of the season.
It’s a tale of two cities tonight, as Sin City has gotten off to a better start to the 2022-23 regular season than Hogtown has. Both teams share a question hanging over their collective heads; will the goaltending be good enough? With an admittedly small sample size to examine, the Golden Knight have received steady netminding, while the Maple Leafs lost recently acquired Matt Murray to yet another injury. The jury is still out on that question.
While the 2nd year Kraken are not expected to seriously challenge for a post-season invite this time around, early on, they have been tougher to play against, and this evening host a young and hungry Buffalo team that believes they can sneak up on some of the teams in the Eastern Conference.
Always a good time when these rivals face off on frozen water. The Rangers are off to a hot start, in particular forward Artemi Panarin, who racked up an impressive 10 points in 4 games. While playoff seeding is important, of course, it’s all about the post-season for the Rangers. Will the Islanders join them in the spring tournament?
Not a great start to the season for either team, to the point that the Wild suddenly became porous. They surrendered 20 goals in their first three games. The much-hyped Senators weren’t much better out of the gate. Somebody takes home 2 points this evening.
There has been much clenching of teeth in the lower mainland as the Vancouver Canucks went on a losing streak to begin the season. It’s how they lost, which really didn’t sit well with the good folks of British Columbia. In all three games, the Canucks ended up with the L after enjoying multi-goal leads. The Penguins’ early season fate has been better, and centre Sidney Crosby has been playing like it’s 2012.
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