The Pregame Skate is back. Every morning for the rest of the season we're going to take a look at the games that have the greatest significance in the push for the postseason for you to digest while you drink your java. We'll throw in some miscellany for the fun of it.
10:30, ET: Dallas at San Jose: We're down to the home stretch of the regular season and the NHL playoff races, and matchups like the one in San Jose are going to be pretty enormous games over the next week. It's no secret that the Sharks have been struggling over the past two months, and it's put them in a position where as of Saturday they're on the outside of the Western Conference playoff picture, sitting in ninth place with 88 points.
Fortunately for them they still control a lot of their own destiny and have an opportunity to catch the teams they're chasing with head-to-head games, and they're still only one point back of Dallas and Phoenix, and only two points behind the division leading Kings.
On Saturday, they get Dallas at home as the first part of a home-and-home with the Stars, and then close out the season with a home-and-home set with the Kings.
It's a tough schedule, and every game is going to be a big factor in the playoff race, but for as much as they've struggled recently they're still going to have a big say in what happens to their season, and whether they win the division or miss the playoffs.
7 ET, Montreal at Washington: The Capitals didn't play on Friday night, but they still had to feel like big winners due to everything else that happened around the Eastern Conference.
The Buffalo Sabres, their primary competition for the No. 8 seed, lost in regulation to the Penguins, while the Florida Panthers continued their late season collapse by losing another winnable game to one of the NHL's worst teams, leaving the door open for the Capitals to possibly sneak back in and take the Southeast Division title.
If they're going to make any of that happen a win against Montreal on Saturday night seems like it would be a must. The Capitals have taken the first three games of the season series against the Canadiens, outscoring them by a 10-1 margin, and have won five in a row dating back to last season, a stretch that's seen Washington allow a total of three goals.
7 ET, Buffalo at Toronto: And while that game is going on, the Sabres are going to be in action in the second half of a back-to-back situation, traveling to Toronto to take on the, to put it mildly, slumping Maple Leafs.
After crushing Washington earlier in the week, the Sabres dropped a home game on Friday night against Pittsburgh, but still come into the game with a 14-3-3 record over their past 20 games (Toronto is 5-12-3 over its past 20).
In terms of strength of schedule over the remainder of the season, the Sabres are facing a bit of a mixed back as they get two straight games with the Maple Leafs before wrapping up the schedule with games against Philadelphia and Boston. These next two games against Toronto could be must-wins.
Other Games Worth Watching
8 ET, Chicago at Nashville: Another potential first-round matchup as the Predators look to continue their Central Division dominance. Entering Saturday's game Nashville is 16-4-3 against the rest of the division.
8 ET, Los Angeles at Minnesota: The Kings are playing as well as any other team in the league right now and head into Minnesota on Saturday as the first place team in the Pacific Division.
9 ET, Anaheim at Phoenix: Pretty much every game that involves a Pacific team is a playoff game at this point, and this one is no different. Well, for Phoenix, anyway. Not so much for Anaheim.
Your Promised Miscellany
For more hockey news, rumors and analysis, follow @EyeOnHockey and @agretz on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
10:30, ET: Dallas at San Jose: We're down to the home stretch of the regular season and the NHL playoff races, and matchups like the one in San Jose are going to be pretty enormous games over the next week. It's no secret that the Sharks have been struggling over the past two months, and it's put them in a position where as of Saturday they're on the outside of the Western Conference playoff picture, sitting in ninth place with 88 points. Fortunately for them they still control a lot of their own destiny and have an opportunity to catch the teams they're chasing with head-to-head games, and they're still only one point back of Dallas and Phoenix, and only two points behind the division leading Kings.
On Saturday, they get Dallas at home as the first part of a home-and-home with the Stars, and then close out the season with a home-and-home set with the Kings.
It's a tough schedule, and every game is going to be a big factor in the playoff race, but for as much as they've struggled recently they're still going to have a big say in what happens to their season, and whether they win the division or miss the playoffs.
7 ET, Montreal at Washington: The Capitals didn't play on Friday night, but they still had to feel like big winners due to everything else that happened around the Eastern Conference. The Buffalo Sabres, their primary competition for the No. 8 seed, lost in regulation to the Penguins, while the Florida Panthers continued their late season collapse by losing another winnable game to one of the NHL's worst teams, leaving the door open for the Capitals to possibly sneak back in and take the Southeast Division title.
If they're going to make any of that happen a win against Montreal on Saturday night seems like it would be a must. The Capitals have taken the first three games of the season series against the Canadiens, outscoring them by a 10-1 margin, and have won five in a row dating back to last season, a stretch that's seen Washington allow a total of three goals.
7 ET, Buffalo at Toronto: And while that game is going on, the Sabres are going to be in action in the second half of a back-to-back situation, traveling to Toronto to take on the, to put it mildly, slumping Maple Leafs. After crushing Washington earlier in the week, the Sabres dropped a home game on Friday night against Pittsburgh, but still come into the game with a 14-3-3 record over their past 20 games (Toronto is 5-12-3 over its past 20).
In terms of strength of schedule over the remainder of the season, the Sabres are facing a bit of a mixed back as they get two straight games with the Maple Leafs before wrapping up the schedule with games against Philadelphia and Boston. These next two games against Toronto could be must-wins.
Other Games Worth Watching
8 ET, Chicago at Nashville: Another potential first-round matchup as the Predators look to continue their Central Division dominance. Entering Saturday's game Nashville is 16-4-3 against the rest of the division.
8 ET, Los Angeles at Minnesota: The Kings are playing as well as any other team in the league right now and head into Minnesota on Saturday as the first place team in the Pacific Division.
9 ET, Anaheim at Phoenix: Pretty much every game that involves a Pacific team is a playoff game at this point, and this one is no different. Well, for Phoenix, anyway. Not so much for Anaheim.
Your Promised Miscellany
- Friday's Winners and Losers
- Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby became the seventh-youngest player in NHL history to reach 600 points. [Penguins]
- Colorado's Milan Hejduk makes it sound like he might be considering retirement at the end of this season. [Denver Post]
- Finally, Pekka Rinne made a lot of saves on Friday night for Nashville, but none were better than this glove save on Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg.
For more hockey news, rumors and analysis, follow @EyeOnHockey and @agretz on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
