Welcome to the NHL On Tap. Three NHL.com writers will share what they are most looking forward to on the schedule each day. Today, their choices from the nine games Sunday.
Milestone game for Fleury
Marc-Andre Fleury is expected to play his 1,000th game when the Minnesota Wild host the Winnipeg Jets in the second game of a back-to-back, home-and-home set at Xcel Energy Center (2 p.m. ET; BSWI, BSN, TSN3). The Wild goalie played in his 999th game Saturday, entering at the start of the third period in relief of Filip Gustavsson in a 4-2 loss at the Jets. Fleury stopped nine of the 10 shots he faced and is likely to get the start. A win against the Jets would move Fleury into a tie for second place with Hall of Famer Patrick Roy for most wins with 551. Roy played 1,029 games in the NHL. Martin Brodeur is the all-time leader in wins (691) and games played (1,266). The No, 1 pick by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2003 NHL Draft, Fleury is in his third season with Minnesota. The Wild (16-14-4) are 11-4-0 since John Hynes replaced Dean Evason as coach on Nov. 27. Nino Niederreiter has four goals in the past two games for the Jets (21-9-4), who are 9-1-2 in their past 12. -- Derek Van Diest, staff writer
MacKinnon seeks to start new point streak
While Nathan MacKinnon might have missed out on tying Paul Stastny for the longest point streak in Colorado Avalanche history when he failed to score against the St. Louis Blues on Friday, Sunday gives him a chance to start a new streak. MacKinnon has been sensational this season, with 56 points (19 goals, 37 assists) in 36 games, second only to Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning (59). Before Friday, MacKinnon had 36 points (13 goals, 23 assists) in his past 19 games for the Avalanche (22-11-3), a remarkable run. He will get a chance to add points against the San Jose Sharks at Ball Arena (8 p.m. ET; NBCSCA, ALT). The Sharks (9-24-3) are the team that MacKinnon has scored the third-most points against in his career, 44 (18 goals, 26 assists) in 33 games against them, behind only the Minnesota Wild (50 points in 44 games) and St. Louis Blues (49 points in 45 games). -- Amalie Benjamin, staff writer
Letang revisits crowning moment
The Pittsburgh Penguins host the New York Islanders at PPG Paints Arena (6 p.m. ET; SN-PIT, MSGSN) and all eyes will be on Kris Letang. When the teams met five days ago at UBS Arena, the Penguins defenseman had six assists in the game, including five in one period. He’s the first player in Penguins history to have five assists in one period and is just one of four active players to do it (Tage Thompson, Mika Zibanejad and Sam Gagner are the others). The six assists by a defenseman in one game tied an NHL record and Letang was the first to do it since Gary Suter in 1986. Letang has nine points (one goal, eight assists) in his past three games for the Penguins (17-13-4), who are coming off a 4-2 win at the Blues on Saturday. The Islanders (17-9-9) are coming off a 5-1 loss at the Washington Capitals on Friday. -- Shawn Roarke, senior director of editorial
Sunday games
Winnipeg Jets at Minnesota Wild (2 p.m. ET; BSWI, BSN, TSN3)
The Jets will attempt to sweep the home-and-home series against the Wild. Forward Mark Scheifele has one goal in his past six games. Wild forward Ryan Hartman has a goal in each of his past four games.
Boston Bruins at Detroit Red Wings (5 p.m. ET; BSDET, NESN, SN, TVAS)
The Red Wings (17-15-4) are 2-6-0 in their past eight games. Detroit forward Lucas Raymond scored in overtime for a 5-4 win against the Nashville Predators on Friday. Forward Patrick Kane has 11 points (five goals, six assists) in a six-game point streak for the Red Wings. The Bruins (21-7-6) defeated the New Jersey Devils 5-2 on Saturday and have won two straight after four consecutive losses (0-2-2).
Buffalo Sabres at Ottawa Senators (6 p.m. ET; TSN5, MSG-B)
Owen Power has four points (one goal, three assists) in his past four games for the Sabres (15-18-4), including two assists in a 3-2 overtime win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday. Buffalo is 3-3-1 in its past seven games. Ottawa (13-18-0) is 2-3-0 under interim coach Jacques Martin, who replaced D.J. Smith on Dec. 18. The Senators lost 6-2 to the New Jersey Devils on Friday.
New York Islanders at Pittsburgh Penguins (6 p.m. ET; SN-PIT, MSGSN)
Penguins center Sidney Crosby has 99 assists in 98 games against the Islanders (including playoffs). Among players to debut in the last 40 years (since 1983-84), the only players to record 100 or more total assists against one team are Steve Yzerman (109 against the Chicago Blackhawks; 103 against the St. Louis Blues; 101 against the Toronto Maple Leafs) and Mario Lemieux (100 against the New Jersey Devils). Crosby has 144 points in those 98 games. Noah Dobson has 14 points (one goal, 13 assists) in 13 games in December. He is the first Islanders defenseman to score at least 13 points in a month since Jeff Norton (December 1989).
Montreal Canadiens at Tampa Bay Lightning (7 p.m. ET; BSSUN, TSN2, RDS)
Forward Josh Anderson has five goals in six games after scoring once in his first 29 games this season for the Canadiens (15-15-5). Forward Nikita Kucherov leads the NHL in scoring with 59 points (25 goals, 34 assists) in 36 games for the Lightning (17-15-5), who lost 5-1 to the New York Rangers on Saturday.
Edmonton Oilers at Anaheim Ducks (8 p.m. ET; BSSD, BSSC, SNP, SNO, SNE, SN1)
The Ducks (13-22-0) are 3-3-0 in their past six games following a five-game losing streak. Anaheim lost 2-0 to the Arizona Coyotes on Friday. Ducks forward Troy Terry has eight points (four goals, four assists) in his past nine games. Edmonton (17-15-1) is playing the second of a back-to-back and third of a three-game road trip, following a 3-2 shootout win against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday. Oilers forward Evander Kane did not play because of a lower-body injury.
Philadelphia Flyers at Calgary Flames (8 p.m. ET; SNW, NBCSP)
Travis Konecny has 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in 11 games for the Flyers (19-11-5), who play the Flames in the fourth game of a five-game road games. Philadelphia lost 2-1 in overtime at the Seattle Kraken on Friday and is 1-1-1 on the trip so far. The Flyers have points in 12 of their past 13 games (8-1-4). Calgary (14-16-5) has lost two straight after going 3-0-2 in its previous five games. Flames forward Nazem Kadri has 10 points (four goals, six assists) in his past 11 games.
San Jose Sharks at Colorado Avalanche (8 p.m. ET; NBCSCA, ALT)
The Sharks have lost seven straight games and have been outscored 33-10 in that span. Their last win came on Dec. 12 against the Winnipeg Jets (2-1). The Avalanche have a four-game point streak (3-0-1) and are expected to get defenseman Samuel Girard back in the lineup after he missed five weeks since entering the NHL/NHLPA Players Assistance Program on Nov. 24. Girard last played Nov. 18.
Chicago Blackhawks at Dallas Stars (8 p.m. ET; BSSW, NBCSCH)
The Stars (21-9-4) managed to keep rookie sensation Connor Bedard off the scoresheet in the first of two consecutive games against the Blackhawks (11-22-2) at American Airlines Center. Dallas defeated Chicago 5-4 on Friday when Roope Hintz had a hat trick, including the winner in overtime. Hintz has 12 points (six goals, six assists) in his past nine games. Bedard leads NHL rookies with 32 points (15 goals, 17 assists) in 35 games and has gone consecutive games without a point only twice this season.
