There are 12 games in the NHL schedule Thursday night, but perhaps the most intriguing is the one that will take place at Jobing.com Arena.

The New Jersey Devils, who won an epic 1-0 shootout against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, head to the desert to battle the Phoenix Coyotes at 9 p.m. ET. New Jersey (32-11-1) sits atop the Eastern Conference with 65 points, while the Coyotes, who are 16-7-2 on home ice, are sixth in the West.

Three games get under way at 7 p.m. ET. In a game that can be seen on TSN in Canada, the Philadelphia Flyers try for their fifth straight win as they take on the Maple Leafs in Toronto, which has lost four in a row. Meanwhile, the New York Rangers host the Ottawa Senators, while the Buffalo Sabres meet the Atlanta Thrashers at Philips Arena.

A trio of games is slated to begin at 7:30 p.m. ET. The Montreal Canadiens, who have points in seven of their last 10 games (6-3-1), host the Dallas Stars at the Bell Centre, while Tampa Bay hosts Florida and Carolina battles Detroit at Joe Louis Arena.

The action then moves West -- the Minnesota Wild aim for their fifth straight win at 8 p.m. ET against the St. Louis Blues, winners of two in a row, at the Scottrade Center. Thirty minutes later, the Central Division-leading Chicago Blackhawks host the Columbus Blue Jackets at the United Center. The Hawks are trying to end a rare two-game losing streak.

Three more games will take place out West. At 9:30 p.m. ET, the Pittsburgh Penguins continue their tour of Alberta in Edmonton, which has just 37 points this season and lost goalie Nikolai Khabibulin to back surgery on Tuesday. The Pens and Oilers can be seen on TSN in Canada. Pittsburgh started its swing through Western Canada with a 3-1 win at Calgary on Wednesday.

The "Freeway Faceoff" resumes at 10:30 p.m. ET, when the Los Angeles Kings host the Anaheim Ducks at the Honda Center. Anaheim is on a roll, as it picked up its fifth straight win on Wednesday with a 4-3 victory on home ice against Boston. The Kings have lost three in a row.

Boston moves up the coast to San Jose to take on the Sharks at HP Pavilion. San Jose (30-10-7) is one point ahead of Chicago in the race for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.