Games for the night

Fun group of games tonight.

Let's start with the "must wins":
New York Rangers at Toronto
Rangers. The Maple Leafs can't be taken lightly, but they are mostly inept. The Rangers need to come out and play as they did last night. Maybe take a lot of penalties in order to work on the Penalty Kill?

Carolina at Ottawa
Carolina. Ottawa has speed but the Canes do too. Ottawa can score, so the Canes will have to shut down the center in their zone and can't let Mike Hoffman get any clean shots. It would be nice to see Eric Staal start carrying this team on his back.

Winnipeg at Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay. The Lightning have to figure out their offense. Too much talent here to not score consistently - this is why they couldn't beat the Blackhawks last season.

Minnesota at Edmonton
Minnesota. The Wild can't let this wily group of youngsters blow up the new coach's inspiring start. Edmonton is going to get offensive chances - Minnesota has to counter and continue playing well in their zone and limit any clean shots.

Anaheim at Vancouver
Anaheim. Anaheim has been powering through lately. Ryan Getzlaf and company are showing why so many picked them to go all the way this year. Losing to Vancouver would be wrong.

Potentially key games:
Washington at New York Islanders
The Islanders need a win here, but can't expect one. The Caps want to keep controlling play as they have most of the year. Look for Tavares and Okposo to step up. If Brock Nelson and Anders Lee get on the board, the Caps might be in trouble.

Dallas at Arizona
Arizona needs points. They have to start showing they can steal points from the big teams and Dallas is about as big as they get. It will be hard to keep Benn/Seguin from getting chances. The Coyotes' kids need to press and keep energy on the puck. If they give nothing easy, the Coyotes can steal it.

Detroit at Pittsburgh
Sidney Crosby is playing better and so are the Penguins. But they still aren't showing the ability to consistently beat any top teams. Detroit is not the cream of NHL as they once were but Pavel Datsyuk is looking to be in form again and Henrik Zetterberg rarely misses a beat. These two have some good skilled guys around them and they seem to always be able to find them. The defense here is surprisingly tight as well. Pittsburgh's defense is suspect, so they need to start showing they can control their zone.

San Jose at Florida
The Sharks are as hot as any team right now. They are playing both ends well. Florida has struggled a bit lately, perhaps because of the absence of Aleksander Barkov. On top of him being out, Brandon Pirri, who has good hands, Erik Gudbranson are out. Don't count this loss against the Panthers too much, but if they pull out a victory - San Jose may need to make a move before the trade deadline.

Los Angeles at St. Louis
No true loser in this game. St. Louis is finally sporting their true full roster...er...except for stalwart defenseman, Alex Pietrangelo. Kevin Shattenkirk has filled in well. Los Angeles, still without Marian Gaborik, never is pushed over easily. This could be playoff hockey!

Boston at Nashville
Both of these teams need to prove themselves. Nashville is like the Penguins, but with star d-men instead of forwards and, like the Pens, they can't seem to get consistent play. They need victories against teams like the Bruins. The Bruins keep plugging along and pulling out tough points. The core of Krejci, Marchand, Bergeron and Chara are keeping the Bruins more than relevant.