Las Vegas Golden Knights vs. Winnipeg Jets
The Golden Knights have been on a winning streak since getting Maxime Legace and Malcolm Subban back from the Injured Reserve. However, this is only half of the goalies they had sitting on the IR for quite some time this season.
Despite losing one of the most critical pieces of their team, the Knights have done very well. They are led by William Karlsson, who has 22 points in the same number of games.
On the opposing team, the Jets are led by Mark Scheifele, who has 28 points in 24 games.
Winnipeg is very offense-focused; the Golden Knights are a much more defensive team, which comes from not relying on their goaltender as much as other teams do. The Knights need to get in front of shots more and use their defense and positioning to transition into an offensive threat.
The Jets have had a fantastic offensive game recently, beating the Minnesota Wild 7-2 on Monday night.
The Golden Knights defeated the Arizona Coyotes 4-2 on Saturday night, becoming the fastest NHL team to 15 wins in its inaugural season.
This bodes well for the Knights, as there is still a lot of hockey to play this season, and they are playing without star goalie Marc-Andre Fleury.
This game will start on Friday at 7 p.m.
Columbus Blue Jackets vs. Washington Capitals
What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? This game should tell us, as the Capitals have a fantastic offense while the Blue Jackets have an incredible defense.
With the offensive talent coming from Evgeny Kuznetsov and Alexander Ovechkin, and huge defense coming from Brandon Dubinsky and Seth Jones, this game should prove to be a fantastic game to watch.
With the offensive prowess handled by the Capitals, fans can expect them to have the puck more often and get lots of shots. But also watch for big hits and shot blocking coming from the Blue Jackets, as this is the most active part of their team.
The Capitals will want to avoid these hits and get shots on goal in any way they can, so we may see some rebound shots and players crashing the net more for the Capitals.
Overall, this game will rely on the Blue Jackets’ goalie, Sergei Bobrovsky, who will try to control the rebounds and avoid giving up any weak goals.
This game will start on Saturday at 6 p.m.
New York Islanders vs. Tampa Bay Lightning
The New York Islanders, led by John Tavares with 26 points this season, will aim to defeat the red-hot Lightning in Tampa Bay to try to hold on to their excellent position in the Metropolitan Division.
Tampa Bay is led by the arguably greatest pair in the league. Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov have combined for 70 points this year already, and we’re just over a quarter of the way in.
The Lightning struggled to get its offense rolling against the Penguins in a 5-2 loss on Saturday. Meanwhile, its defense didn’t look too great either.
The Lightning has been the most dominant team so far this season, leading the Atlantic Division by three points in two fewer games than the next team behind it. The team’s performance against the Penguins might have been a symptom of complacency from being so far ahead of all of the competition.
The Islanders beat the Ottawa Senators on Saturday in a 2-1 game with goals from Jordan Eberle and Anders Lee. The game was filled with penalties, leading to excellent offensive chances and strong defensive plays from both teams.
This game will be decided by how many offensive chances are given up to either team, as they both have a solid offense.
The puck will drop for this game on Dec. 5 at 6:30 p.m.
