NHL On Tap: Crosby, Matthews go head-to-head before holiday break

There are 13 games on the NHL schedule for Tuesday, the last day before the holiday break. Four games will be nationally televised in the United States, three of which are part of a tripleheader on TNT, truTV, HBO MAX that starts at 4 p.m. ET. Here are five things to watch today, along with the complete game schedule.

Star-studded afternoon in Toronto

Fresh off breaking Mario Lemieux's long-standing Pittsburgh Penguins all-time scoring record, Sidney Crosby looks to build separation between himself and No. 66 when he goes head-to-head against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Auston Matthews, who in a few years, might wind up as his team's all-time leading scorer. It's a rare mid-week afternoon game at Scotiabank Arena (4 p.m. ET; SNO, TNT, truTV, HBO MAX) and the first of a TNT tripleheader leading into the NHL's holiday break (Wednesday-Friday). The Penguins (15-11-9) ended an eight-game losing streak with a 4-3 shootout win against the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday, when Crosby had two points to move past Lemieux and to the top of the Penguins' all-time scoring list with 1,724 points in 1,387 games. He needs one assist to move past Adam Oates into sole possession of eighth place on the NHL's all-time assists list (1,079). Matthews and the Maple Leafs (15-15-5) are having their own struggles, having lost all three games on a road trip by a combined 14-4, including 5-1 to the Dallas Stars on Sunday. Matthews did not have a point on the trip.

U.S. Olympic hopefuls clash in Hockeytown

Dallas Stars forward Jason Robertson and Detroit Red Wings forward Alex DeBrincat are hoping to find out soon enough that they've made the U.S. team for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026. Both are on the radar with how they've played this season. They'll do what they can to one-up each other Tuesday, when they play at Little Caesars Arena in a game featuring two of the hottest teams in the League (6:30 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, Victory+, truTV, TNT). Robertson has three goals in his past two games and leads the Stars with 23 this season. He leads all U.S. Olympic hopefuls in goals and points (44). DeBrincat leads the Red Wings with 20 goals and 40 points, third and tied for fifth, respectively, among U.S.-eligible players. The Stars (25-7-5) have won four games in a row and are second in the Central Division, four points behind the Colorado Avalanche. The Red Wings (21-13-3) have won two in a row and seven of nine. They're in first place in the Atlantic Division, two points ahead of the Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning.

Stamkos, Predators look to stay hot in Minnesota

As soon as Steven Stamkos started to heat up, the Nashville Predators started winning. Coincidence? Nope. Nashville is 9-4-0 since Nov. 26 with Stamkos leading the charge with 10 goals in that stretch, including one each in the past two games, both wins. Ryan O'Reilly leads the Predators with 17 points (four goals, 13 assists) in the past 13 games. The Predators (15-16-4), though, face a stiff test against the Wild at Grand Casino Arena (8 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+). Minnesota (22-10-5) will be looking to start a new winning streak after having its seven-game run end Sunday in a 5-1 loss to the Avalanche.

McDavid on a tear heading into 'Battle'

So, here's how it's going for Connor McDavid in the past month; an NHL-best 30 points (14 goals, 16 assists) in 14 games, including an active 10-game point streak. Not surprisingly, the Edmonton Oilers are playing their best hockey of the season too, going 9-4-1 in those 14 games since Nov. 22, when they entered their Stanley Cup Final rematch game against the Florida Panthers with a 9-9-5 record. Now, they've got a "Battle of Alberta" game against the Calgary Flames at Rogers Place (9 p.m. ET; SN360, SNW) before taking off for the holiday break. The Oilers (18-13-6) and Flames (15-17-4) haven't played since opening night, when Calgary rebounded from down 3-0 to win 4-3 in a shootout. Revenge game for the Oilers? Maybe, but it won't be easy, because as well as they're playing, don't discount what Calgary has done in going 10-4-1 in 15 games since Nov. 19.

Michkov shooting for more

Sometimes a goal scorer just needs to see is the puck go into the net, even into an empty net late in a blowout win, to fuel his confidence and spark a hot streak. Matvei Michkov and the Philadelphia Flyers are hoping that's what happens now that his 10-game streak without a goal ended with an empty-netter late in a 5-2 win against the Vancouver Canucks on Monday. Michkov will try to build on it when the Flyers play the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center (9 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, truTV, TNT) in the nightcap of TNT's tripleheader. Michkov hadn't scored since he got two in a 5-3 win against the New Jersey Devils on Nov. 29. But now the second-year forward has points in four of his past five games (one goal, three assists), and the Flyers (18-10-7), despite only three wins, have points in seven of their past eight games (3-1-4). Michkov has nine goals in 35 games this season after scoring 26 in 82 games last season. Meanwhile, the Blackhawks (13-16-6) are slumping. They've lost five games in a row, including all four since Connor Bedard went out with an upper-body injury, and they're 1-7-0 in their past eight games.

The schedule

Pittsburgh Penguins at Toronto Maple Leafs (4 p.m. ET; SNO, TNT, truTV, HBO MAX)

Dallas Stars at Detroit Red Wings (6:30 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, Victory+, truTV, TNT)

New York Rangers at Washington Capitals (7 p.m. ET; MNMT2, MSG 2, SNP, SNO, SNE)

Montreal Canadiens at Boston Bruins (7 p.m. ET; NESN, TSN2, RDS)

Buffalo Sabres at Ottawa Senators (7 p.m. ET; RDS2, TSN5, MSG-B)

New Jersey Devils at New York Islanders (7 p.m. ET; MSGSN2, MSGSN)

Florida Panthers at Carolina Hurricanes (7 p.m. ET; FDSNSO, SCRIPPS)

Nashville Predators at Minnesota Wild (8 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+)

Philadelphia Flyers at Chicago Blackhawks (9 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, truTV, TNT)

Utah Mammoth at Colorado Avalanche (9 p.m. ET; Utah16, ALT)

Calgary Flames at Edmonton Oilers (9 p.m. ET; SN360, SNW)

San Jose Sharks at Vegas Golden Knights (10 p.m. ET; SCRIPPS, NBCSCA)

Seattle Kraken at Los Angeles Kings (10 p.m. ET; FDSNW, KHN/Prime, KONG)