Adam Proteau lists seven NHL teams whose matchups on Tuesday have extra significance during the Frozen Frenzy 16-game slate, including Winnipeg, St. Louis, Buffalo and more.
The NHL’s Frozen Frenzy (read: Super Tuesday) goes down tonight, with all 32 teams in action. And there’s no shortage of drama already this season.
Tuesday’s slate of 16 games has a number of teams worth watching in particular. For argument’s sake, let’s say there are seven such teams. Below, in no special order, are those teams to watch on Super Tuesday:
Washington Capitals
Expectations in media and fan circles have lowered regarding the Caps’ competitiveness. After four games this year, the Capitals have done nothing to suggest they’ll prove their critics wrong, posting a 1-2-1 record and generating just six goals (five if you don’t count a shootout goal in their lone win) in that span.
Already, the Capitals find themselves at the bottom of the Metropolitan Division, and they’ve got a tough home test Tuesday when the Toronto Maple Leafs come into town.
The Leafs are coming in having just beaten the Tampa Bay Lightning in a comeback win Saturday, and they’ve got their own pressures to win this game against the Caps. But Washington cannot afford many more losses, especially in regulation time. The Capitals desperately need more production from their bottom nine forwards and bottom two defensive pairings. The Leafs can score, and a run-and-gun approach favors them tonight.
The Leafs’ defense hasn’t been attractive through their five games, but neither has Washington’s. The cards point to a high-tempo showdown between Toronto and the Caps, but sometimes the hockey gods like to mess with us, so we’re predicting a 2-1 or 3-2 Leafs win. And if that happens, and the Capitals don’t at least get to overtime, the heat on Caps management will surge.
St. Louis Blues and Winnipeg Jets
Here, you’ve got two divisional rivals, both with non-elite starts to the season; the Blues are fifth in the Metropolitan Division with a 2-1-1 record in four games, while the Jets sit seventh with a 2-3-0 mark in five games. The Jets have allowed 21 goals thus far, and that lack of defense could be just what the doctor ordered for St. Louis’ subpar offense, which has generated only nine goals this season.
The Blues have allowed only 11 goals, and it will be difficult for Winnipeg to have an outburst on offense, but the Jets would be doing themselves a service if they can beat St. Louis. This is a contest we can easily see going to overtime and the shootout, with the Blues coming out on top. When Winnipeg has lost this year, they’ve been outscored by at least two goals per game, but we think they can lose just as easily by one goal.
Buffalo Sabres
Besides the Jets and Blues, the Sabres’ road game against Ottawa is the other divisional matchup on Super Tuesday. And the Senators look like a formidable opponent for the Sabres, posting a 3-2-0 record through five games. Ottawa also has a 3-1-0 record at home this season, and Buffalo has a 0-1-0 mark away from home.
All signs point to a Sens win, but the Sabres are dead last in the competitive Atlantic Division, so we expect they’ll put up a fight and sneak past the Senators in overtime or a shootout.
Buffalo must pick up at least one point in this game, or they’ll drop to 2-5-0, and the rest of the Atlantic will begin to leave them behind. A victory over the Sens would infuse positivity into Buffalo’s system, and that’s exactly what they need to help them dig out of the hole they’ve dug already this season.
Los Angeles Kings
The Pacific Division is the only division with fewer than three teams with a plus-.500 record this season, so the Kings sit tied for third in the Pacific with a relatively mediocre 2-2-1 record.
They’ve got the Arizona Coyotes Tuesday, and the Yotes have a surprisingly solid 3-2-0 mark that includes road wins over New Jersey and St. Louis. Meanwhile, L.A. has yet to win at home (0-2-1), and they’ve been outscored 15-9 in their home games. Defense was believed to be a potential Achilles heel for the Kings in some pre-season predictions, and so far, that’s coming true.
That said, the Coyotes are far from perfect as well – their offense has failed to produce at least three goals in three of their five games – and the Kings’ offense has produced 21 goals in their five games. A win by Los Angeles will provide some separation in the Pacific, and the Kings face the Coyotes again Friday, followed by games against Vegas, Toronto, Ottawa, Philadelphia, Vegas again and Pittsburgh. Only the Flyers game is one the Kings absolutely should win, so beating the Coyotes in these next two games is paramount to them staying near the top of the Pacific. And that all starts Tuesday in L.A.
Carolina Hurricanes and Nashville Predators
The Hurricanes and Predators have the same mediocre record of 3-3-0 this year, but expectations on them are different. The Canes are a popular pick to win the Metropolitan Division and the Cup, and the Preds are in tough just to make the playoffs in the Central Division.
After winning its first two games, Carolina has dropped three of its past four games, and not by a little, as they’ve been outscored 19-11 in those three defeats. They’re taking on a similarly desperate team in the Tampa Bay Lightning Tuesday night in Florida, and they need to get back on track with a win – and preferably, a win that features Carolina’s goaltending not being a turnstile for the other team’s offense.
Meanwhile, the Predators sit fourth in the Central, but they’re just two points out of eighth place. Nashville has home games against the Canucks Tuesday and the Maple Leafs on Saturday, and they then embark on a five-game road swing that takes them to Vancouver, Seattle, Edmonton, Calgary and Winnipeg. There are no pushovers in that group of opponents, and that means the Preds have to scratch and claw for every standings point they can get.
The Central likely will have some serious movement in the standings over the coming weeks, and the challenge for Nashville is to somehow beat the odds against them and gel into a bona fide playoff contender. The top of the Central is a bridge too far for the Predators, but they can show their mettle starting Tuesday and move on quickly from there.
