Welcome to the NHL On Tap, a daily look at the games on the NHL schedule. There are three games on the schedule for Sunday, including two nationally televised in the United States and one in Canada:
Games of the day
New York Rangers at Montreal Canadiens (7 p.m. ET; RDS, TSN2, MSG, NHLN)
The individual storyline to follow when the Rangers and Canadiens play at Bell Centre is New York goalie Jonathan Quick likely taking his third swing at becoming the first United States-born goalie to reach 400 NHL wins. Quick has been stuck on 399 since Jan. 2, when he made 32 saves in a 2-1 win against the Boston Bruins. He has started two games since but allowed six goals in a 7-4 loss to the Washington Capitals on Jan. 4 and five in a 5-4 overtime loss to the Dallas Stars on Jan. 7. He hasn't been announced as the starter yet, but Igor Shesterkin has played the past five games, including a 1-0 shootout win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday. If Quick gets the nod, he'll have a confident group of skaters in front of him; the Rangers (22-20-3) have won their past two games and have points in seven straight (5-0-2). They're arguably playing their best hockey of the season in the past two weeks. The Canadiens (22-19-4) had a six-game point streak end Saturday in a 7-3 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Montreal held a 3-0 lead after the first period before allowing seven unanswered goals. The Canadiens, though, are 11-3-1 in 15 games since Dec. 17.
Detroit Red Wings at Dallas Stars (8 p.m. ET; FDSNDET, Victory+, SN)
The Stars (28-16-1) have lost two in a row and three of four since winning seven straight and a nine-game point streak (8-0-1). The Red Wings (21-20-4) have lost two of three since their seven-game winning streak. Both teams played Saturday; Dallas lost 6-3 to the Colorado Avalanche with backup goalie Casey DeSmith in net, which means Jake Oettinger is likely to get the start against Detroit. Oettinger has allowed four goals in his past three starts and has given up two or fewer in nine of 12 since Dec. 14. Stars forward Jason Robertson has three goals in the past two games, four in four and seven in 11 since Dec. 29. The Red Wings lost 5-1 at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday. They'll be playing the third of a four-game road trip that started with a 5-2 win at the Florida Panthers on Thursday.
Ottawa Senators at New Jersey Devils (1 p.m. ET; MSGSN, NHLN, TSN5, RDS)
The Senators (23-18-4) carry a five-game point streak (4-0-1) into the opener of a three-game road trip. Ottawa's latest triumph came at home Saturday, when they scored twice late in the third period before defeating the Boston Bruins 6-5 in a shootout. The Senators scored two goals in the final 3:13, and Tim Stutzle's shootout goal was the difference. They outshot the Bruins 44-28 and had a 96-52 advantage in total shot attempts, so you know Ottawa is feeling good about its offensive game entering Prudential Center. It's the opposite for the home team Sunday; the Devils (26-16-6) will try to get out of a what has become a scoring funk. They were held to 14 shots on goal in a 3-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday. New Jersey is 2-5-3 and averaging 1.90 goals in 10 games since Dec. 28. The Devils have allowed 2.90 goals per game in the 10-game stretch, but wins have been hard to come by because of the lack of offensive production. It could just be a blip, though; the Devils were averaging 3.37 goals in their first 38 games. This one features Senators captain Brady Tkachuk and Devils center Jack Hughes going against each other; they will play for the United States at the 4 Nations Face-Off next month.
