Each Friday, NHL Network and ESPN analyst Kevin Weekes will provide readers with three games he is looking forward to that weekend:
Florida Panthers at Colorado Avalanche (Saturday, 4 p.m. ET; BSFL, ALT, SN)
This game could be a potential Stanley Cup Final preview. I love the way the Panthers are playing. They've won six straight after a 4-1 win at the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday in a rematch of last season's Final. The Panthers (24-12-2) are aggressive, they attack, they play fast, and are very skilled. Sam Reinhart has had a career season and is among the NHL leaders with 25 goals. Aleksander Barkov and Carter Verhaeghe each is near or better than a point per game pace. Florida snuck into the playoffs last season and has shown that wasn't a fluke. And they've done all this with Matthew Tkachuk scoring seven goals this season after back-to-back seasons with 40-plus.
For me, Nathan MacKinnon is the Hart Trophy winner at this point. He has points in 32 of 39 games this season and is tied with Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning for the most points in the NHL (64). Quietly, Jonathan Drouin has been playing better. He has 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in his past 11 games, and has been sparked playing on the top line with MacKinnon, his teammate in junior hockey. The Avalanche (25-11-3) have won four straight following a 5-4 overtime win against the Dallas Stars on Thursday. They have depth all around and Alexandar Georgiev (21 wins) has the same or more victories than 24 NHL teams do this season.
Nashville Predators at Dallas Stars (Saturday, 8 p.m. ET; BSSO, BSSW)
Despite allowing five goals in three of his past four starts, Juuse Saros remains one of the best and most consistent goalies in the League. The Predators (21-17-1) have rebounded nicely since a 5-10-0 start and this will be a big test for them to show they can hang with the top teams in the Central Division and the Western Conference. Ryan O'Reilly, in his first season with them, has been great on both sides of the puck and in the face-off circle. He's also gotten his offense back with 33 points in 39 games. They could use more goal scoring, with O'Reilly, Filip Forsberg and Colton Sissons the only players with at least 10 goals.
Matt Duchene will play the Predators for the second time this season after they bought out the final three seasons of his seven-year contract and he signed with the Stars. He didn't have a point in a 3-2 win against the Predators on Dec. 23, but has five assists in his past three games. Obviously it hurts being without Jake Oettinger, who's one of the best goalies in the League, but he is nearing a return and Scott Wedgewood has been excellent in his absence. The Stars (22-10-5) have not lost three straight all season, which they are looking to avoid Saturday. The biggest change for me this season is that they aren't just a one-line team with Jason Robertson, Roope Hintz and Joe Pavelski. They have Duchene and Mason Marchment contributing, and Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn seem to have found the fountain of youth. Plus Miro Heiskanen on the back end who, to me, is one of the more underrated defensemen in the NHL.
