NHL On Tap: McDavid, Oilers host Matthews, Maple Leafs in Olympic preview

There are seven games on the NHL schedule for Tuesday, including three nationally televised in the United States and one in Canada. Here are the five things to watch today, along with the complete game schedule.

Captains collide

Two of the best offensive players in the NHL meet when Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers host Auston Matthews and the Toronto Maple Leafs at Rogers Place (8:30 p.m. ET; TVAS, SN). McDavid, the Oilers captain, leads the NHL scoring race with 95 points (34 goals, 61 assists) in 56 games and will play for Team Canada at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026. Matthews, the Maple Leafs captain, has 47 points (26 goals, 21 assists) in 50 games and will play for the United States at the Olympics. The Oilers (28-20-8), tied with the Vegas Golden Knights for the Pacific Division lead, had a three-game winning streak end in a 7-3 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Saturday. The Maple Leafs eye their third straight win following a six-game losing streak (0-5-1).

Moving on up

Beckett Sennecke can move into third place as the highest-scoring rookie in Anaheim Ducks history when they host the Seattle Kraken at Honda Center (10 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, TNT). The 20-year-old first-year forward has 44 points (18 goals, 26 assists) in 55 games for the Ducks (29-23-3), who are 8-2-0 in their past 10 games. Sennecke is one point behind Dustin Penner, who had 45 points (29 goals, 16 assists) as a rookie for Anaheim in 2006-07. Forward Trevor Zegras is the Ducks all-time rookie scoring leader with 61 points (23 goals, 38 assists) in 75 games in 2021-22, followed by Bobby Ryan, who had 57 points (31 goals, 26 assists) in 64 games in 2008-09. Climbing that ladder will not be easy against the Kraken (26-19-9), who seek their fifth straight victory, which would be the second-longest in their history (9-0-0 in 2023-24).

Inside job

The Tampa Bay Lightning (35-14-4) are heading back indoors to host the Buffalo Sabres (32-18-5) at Benchmark International Arena (7:30 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+). Tampa Bay rallied from a four-goal deficit in a 6-5 shootout victory against the Boston Bruins in the 2026 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday. Forward Nikita Kucherov had a goal and three assists in the win; he has 19 points (five goals, 14 assists) in an eight-game point streak and points in 18 of his past 19 games (44 points; 15 goals, 29 assists) for the Lightning, who are 17-1-1 in their past 19 games. Tampa Bay holds a two-point lead on the Detroit Red Wings for first place in the Atlantic Division. The Sabres have also been playing well of late; they're 6-1-0 in their past seven games and 21-4-1 since Dec. 8.

No Bones about it

The Columbus Blue Jackets (27-20-7) are 8-1-0 since Rick Bowness was hired to replace Dean Evason as coach on Jan 12, and look to keep rolling when they visit the New Jersey Devils (28-25-2) at Prudential Center (7 p.m. ET; FDSNOH, MSGSN). Bowness, 70, came out of retirement and took over with the Blue Jackets sitting last in the Metropolitan Division; they've since climbed to fifth place and are making up ground in the race for a Stanley Cup playoff berth, now seven points behind the Bruins for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. Columbus' Zach Werenski (60 points; 19 goals, 41 assists in 50 games) is tied with Evan Bouchard of Edmonton for the NHL scoring lead among defensemen and will play for the United States at the Olympics.

Skinner winner

Stuart Skinner is expected to start and can extend his personal winning streak to six games when the Pittsburgh Penguins travel to face the New York Islanders at UBS Arena (7:30 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, TNT, TVAS). The goalie is 8-1-0 in his past nine starts with a 2.01 goals-against average and .917 save percentage for the Penguins (28-15-11), who had a six-game winning streak end in a 3-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Monday with Arturs Silovs in goal. Pittsburgh center Evgeni Malkin has eight points (three goals, five assists) in a six-game point streak. The Islanders (30-21-5) have lost two straight following a three-game winning streak.

The schedule

Columbus Blue Jackets at New Jersey Devils (7 p.m. ET; FDSNOH, MSGSN)

Washington Capitals at Philadelphia Flyers (7 p.m. ET; MNMT2, NBCSP)

Ottawa Senators at Carolina Hurricanes (7 p.m. ET; FDSNSO, TSN5, RDS)

Buffalo Sabres at Tampa Bay Lightning (7:30 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+)

Pittsburgh Penguins at New York Islanders (7:30 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, TNT, TVAS)

Toronto Maple Leafs at Edmonton Oilers (8:30 p.m. ET; TVAS, SN)

Seattle Kraken at Anaheim Ducks (10 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, TNT)