NHL fans are saying goodbye to their teams for the Olympic break. But there’s still one day – and six games – before the League turns over the hockey spotlight to the Winter Games in Vancouver.
The day begins at 1 p.m. ET, when the Tampa Bay Lightning conclude their weekend in New York with a visit to Madison Square Garden for a game with the Rangers. The Bolts lost 5-4 on Saturday afternoon at Long Island, while the Rangers are coming off a 3-2 overtime win at Pittsburgh on Friday – though both Marian Gaborik and Michael Del Zotto were injured in that game and not likely to dress on Sunday.
The Penguins are also back in action at 1 when they host Nashville. The Predators are 1-1-1 on their Eastern trip, but lost 5-2 at New Jersey on Friday. The game will be shown on the NHL Network in Canada.
At 3 p.m. ET, Vancouver concludes the first segment of its marathon road trip with a visit to Minnesota. It’s Game 8 of the Canucks’ 14-game trip; they improved to 4-3-0 with a 4-3 win at Columbus on Friday. The Wild have lost their last two games, both at home by 3-2 scores to Phoenix on Wednesday and Minnesota on Friday.
The Islanders try for back-to-back wins when they host Ottawa at 5 p.m. ET. Ottawa flew into Long Island after a 4-1 loss at Detroit on Saturday, but the Senators are still 13-2-0 in their last 15 games.
Also at 5, Columbus hosts Chicago, a 5-4 shootout winner over Atlanta at home on Saturday.
The pre-Olympic portion of the schedule comes to an end when Anaheim visits Edmonton at 7 p.m. ET. The Ducks lost 3-1 at Calgary on Saturday, while the Oilers are coming off a 3-2 shootout win at Los Angeles on Thursday – their first road win in two months.