Each Friday, NHL Network and ESPN analyst Kevin Weekes will provide readers with three games he is looking forward to that weekend:
Edmonton Oilers at Florida Panthers (Saturday, 4 pm ET; SN, BSFL, ESPN+)
The Oilers (8-7-0) are led on offense by the top two scorers in the NHL, centers Connor McDavid (31 points; 15 goals, 16 assists) and Leon Draisaitl (27 points; nine goals, 18 assists). They are two of five Edmonton players with at least five goals. Despite all that offense, they were defeated 7-2 at the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday. The problem has been defensively, where the Oilers rank 28th in the NHL in goals against per game (3.73). Goalie Jack Campbell hasn’t gotten great help, but still has underwhelming numbers with a 4.27 goals-against average and an .873 save percentage in 10 starts. Plus, it will be hard to replace forward Evander Kanewho is out 3-4 months after surgery to repair a skate cut to his left wrist.
The Panthers (8-5-1) have won two straight and are coming off a 3-0 shutout win against the Hurricanes on Wednesday. Spencer Knight has proven he can be a No. 1 goalie; He’s 5-1-0 with a 2.18 GAA, .925 save percentage and one shutout in six starts. I also like the chemistry I’ve seen between the forwards Carter Verhaeghe (14 points; eight goals, six assists) and Alexander Barkov (11 points; three goals, eight assists). They likely will be getting Aaron Ekblad back for this game, which will be huge; the defenseman has missed 11 games with a lower-body injury. And forward Matthew Tkachukwho leads Florida with 17 points (five goals, 12 assists) and 30 penalty minutes, has been as advertised.
Carolina Hurricanes at Colorado Avalanche (Saturday, 9 p.m. ET; ALT, BSSO, ESPN+, SN NOW)
The Hurricanes (9-4-1) are coming off that big home win against the Oilers and get another test in the Avalanche. Forward Andrei Svechnikov had a hat trick Thursday and leads them in goals (11) and is second in points (17). The surprise has been center Martin Necas, their leading scorer (19 points; seven goals, 12 assists), who is on pace to blow by his NHL career highs of 16 goals (in 2019-20) and 41 points (in 2020-21). Carolina is one of the most balanced teams in the League and even has three capable goalies. Pyotr Kochetkov stepped in Thursday with the injury Frederik Andersen and won, just as he did last season when he was pressed into playing due to injuries.
The Avalanche (7-4-1) picked up where they left off after sweeping the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2022 NHL Global Series with a 5-3 win against the Nashville Predators on Thursday. Center Nathan MacKinnon (21 points; three goals, 18 assists), forward Mikko Rantanen (19 points; nine goals, 10 assists) and defenseman Cale Makar (14 points; one goal, 13 assists) are the usual suspects, but others have stepped up following injuries to forwards Gabriel Landeskog and Valery Nichushkin. That includes center Evan Rodrigues (seven points; five goals, two assists), who has been a nice replacement for some of their top-nine forwards they lost during the offseason, and goalie Alexander Georgiev has done well in his first season in Colorado (7-1-1, 2.66 GAA, .924 save percentage in nine starts.)
Washington Capitals at Tampa Bay Lightning (Sunday, 7 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN NOW)
The Capitals (6-7-2) completed a four-game homestand and are 1-3-2 in their past six games. It’s been a struggle for them offensively; They rank 25th in the NHL in goals per game (2.73). But that’s not surprising considering they are without center Nicklas Backstrom and forwards TJ Oshie, Connor Brown and Carl Hagelin and defensemen John Carlson and Dmitry Orlov because of injuries. It’s nice that forward Alex Ovechkin is scoring (13 points; eight goals, five assists) and center Dylan Strome has stepped it up with 12 points (four goals, eight assists). Washington is treading water right now, but should be OK once it gets healthy.
For the Lightning (7-5-1), I like the way that top line Brandon Hagel (11 points, five goals, six assists), Brayden Point (15 points; six goals, nine assists) and Nikita Kucherov (21 points; six goals, 15 assists) are playing. They make up three of Tampa Bay’s top four scorers, along with center Steven Stamkos (13 points; seven goals, six assists). I think the biggest thing for the Lightning is keeping pace right now before they have to turn it on when they need to. You know what you’re getting from them game to game, especially with Andrei Vasilevskiy in net, although his numbers are not up to his norm (4-4-1, 2.90 GAA, .910 save percentage). Neither Tampa Bay nor Washington has gotten off to the start it wanted to, and I expect this game to have a playoff-type atmosphere.
.