Pluses, minuses for Devils-Rangers, Oilers-Stars

NHL Network and ESPN analyst Kevin Weekes will offer his thoughts for big games each week throughout the season.

The New Jersey Devils (36-35-4) look to keep their slim Stanley Cup Playoff hopes alive when they visit the New York Rangers (50-21-4) at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT). Then the Edmonton Oilers (45-23-5) visit the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center (9:30 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SNW, SN360).

Here's my breakdown of the games.

Devils

Pluses: Jake Allen's numbers have been great since the Devils acquired him in a trade on March 8. Goaltending has been an issue all season for New Jersey and he's at least been a bright spot and could help at the position next season. We know how good Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt are, but Timo Meier has turned it around, having led the NHL in goals in March with 13. I've also been impressed with rookie defenseman Luke Hughes and Simon Nemec.

Minuses: The Devils have had their share of injuries this season, with Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier missing time and Defenseman Dougie Hamilton having been out since November. They have been unable to put a full 60 minutes together consistently and have lost games they should not have lost. A 2-0 lead against the Buffalo Sabres on Friday turned into a 5-2 loss. A 3-1 third-period lead against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday turned into a 6-3 loss. They also lost to the Ottawa Senators, Anaheim Ducks, San Jose Sharks and Columbus Blue Jackets at home this season. It has been a difficult year for them after being a surprise team last season.

Rangers

Pluses: Jonathan Quick recently became the all-time wins leader among United States-born goalies and has been a great backup for Igor Shesterkin. Artemi Panarin has 108 points (44 goals, 64 assists), the third-most ever in a single season by a Rangers player. It seems like night in and night out, they can beat you offensively but can also win low-scoring games. They have a top-five power play and top-five penalty kill and are competing for the Presidents' Trophy. New York is definitely one of the most well-rounded teams in the NHL this season.

Minuses: The only thing I would say is that their final seven games of the season could potentially be all against teams who may not qualify for the playoffs, and you'd hope the Rangers still manage to keep their intensity up and focus in those games, which could be meaningless for their opponents and meaningless for them if they lock up the division soon.

Oilers

Pluses: Connor McDavid has come all the way back in the scoring race after being out of the top 100 earlier in the season. He has 126 points (29 goals, 97 assists) and is battling with Nikita Kucherov (Tampa Bay Lightning) and Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado Avalanche) for the NHL scoring lead. Zach Hyman has 52 goals this season and probably doesn't get all the credit he deserves because he plays alongside McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Stuart Skinner has built off his rookie season when he had 29 wins and was a finalist for the Calder Trophy, going 33-14-5 with a 2.63 GAA and .906 save percentage in 54 games (52 starts).

Minuses: Edmonton has definitely righted the ship since their poor start to the season but still could use improving on the penalty kill; the Oilers have allowed six goals on 20 chances in their past six games (70 percent penalty kill rate).

Stars

Pluses: I love the way Dallas is set up right now; they've also won seven straight games, outscoring opponents 29-11, and swept a four-game road trip. The Tyler Seguin-Matt Duchene-Mason Marchment line has been great. It's been a huge season for Duchene (62 points) after he signed with Dallas following being bought out by the Nashville Predators. Wyatt Johnston has 29 goals in his second NHL season. The Stars also have one of the best goalie tandems in Jake Oettinger and Scott Wedgewood. Oettinger has really played well recently, having allowed two or fewer goals in five straight games. Dallas also has an excellent record against the Western Conference (30-8-6) and the Central Division (15-5-2).

Minuses: No negatives for them right now. They're first in the Central and battling for the Presidents' Trophy and have a ton of depth with seven players scoring at least 20 goals; no other team has more than five.