Last two No. 1 picks meet for first time

Taylor Hall followed John Tavares as the No. 1 pick in the NHL Entry Draft -- Tavares by the New York Islanders in 2009 and Hall by the Edmonton Oilers last year.

The two faced off numerous time as juniors, but they'll oppose each other for the first time as pros on Thursday night when the Islanders continue their road trip with a visit to Rexall Place in one of eight games on the NHL schedule.

Tavares is coming off a two-goal performance Monday in the Isles' 5-2 win at Calgary. Hall and the Oilers gave up a pair of late goals on Tuesday in a 5-3 home loss to Detroit, their seventh loss in a row.
Game time is 9 p.m. ET.

Thursday's action gets under way at 7 with three games. Minnesota visits Boston in a meeting of teams coming off 2-1 road victories -- Boston at Toronto on Monday; the Wild at New Jersey on Tuesday. Toronto tries to bounce back when it hosts St. Louis, which hasn't played since Sunday's 4-2 home loss to Dallas. That game can be seen on TSN in Canada. The Devils are home again to host Philadelphia, which had three days off after Sunday's 3-2 win at Detroit.

A half-hour later, Pittsburgh visits Montreal, where the Canadiens returned home Sunday after a seven-game trip by losing 4-3 to Atlanta in overtime. That game can be seen on the NHL Network in the United States and on RDS in Canada.

In addition to the Isles-Oilers game, the Phoenix Coyotes and Colorado Avalanche will face off in Denver at 9 p.m. Both teams are coming off home wins on Tuesday -- the Coyotes beat Columbus 4-2, while the Avs topped Buffalo 4-3 in overtime.

The Sabres move on to San Jose for one of two 10:30 p.m. ET starts. The Sharks have had two days off after Monday's 4-3 home loss to Vancouver. In the other late game, Nashville continues its swing through California with a stop in Los Angeles. The Kings, playing the fourth game of an eight-game homestand, lost 4-3 to Chicago on Monday.