Each Friday, NHL Network and ESPN analyst Kevin Weekes will provide readers with three games he is looking forward to that weekend:
Tampa Bay Lightning at Dallas Stars (Saturday, 2 p.m. ET; BSSUN, BSSW, NHLN, SN)
Nikita Kucherov leads the NHL with 39 points (15 goals, 24 assists) and has an eight-game point streak (four goals, 12 assists), and goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy is back after missing the first 20 games of the season following September back surgery. Those are two great things for the Lightning (10-9-5), as is having four players with double-digit goals (Kucherov, 15; Brayden Point, 12; Brandon Hagel, 10; Steven Stamkos, 10). Their 4-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday was their third straight and it doesn't get any easier with their next four against the Stars (a home-and-home set Saturday and then Monday in Tampa Bay), and then back-to-back games against the Penguins on Dec. 6 and the Nashville Predators on Dec. 7, so they're going to need to get on track here.
The Stars (13-5-3) are coming off a 4-3 overtime loss against the Calgary Flames on Thursday, but are a much deeper team up front than they have been in recent seasons. They're not just dependent on the top line of Jason Robertson, Roope Hintz and Joe Pavelski. Matt Duchene, who signed a one-year, $3 million contract July 1, has 17 points (six goals, 11 assists). Wyatt Johnston (nine goals, seven assists) and Tyler Seguin (seven goals, nine assists) each have 16 points, and Jamie Benn has 15 points (four goals, 11 assists). Jake Oettinger is their clear No. 1 goalie but backup Scott Wedgewood hasn't been much of a drop-off. He has a .911 save percentage in six games, not far off Oettinger's .916 in 15 games. Dallas has the third-best penalty kill in the League (88.9 percent) and is playing like the team that was within a few games of the Stanley Cup Final last season.
Boston Bruins at Toronto Maple Leafs (Saturday, 7 p.m. ET; SN, NESN, NHLN)
The Bruins (15-4-3) have been slumping lately, losing three straight prior to a 3-0 win against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday. They had allowed 17 goals in those three losses so it was nice to see them have a solid defensive effort. David Pastrnak is kind of going unnoticed this season even after scoring 61 goals last season. He has 13 goals and 33 points in 22 games this season. Charlie Coyle (19 points) and Pavel Zacha (18 points) have been surprises offensively. Hampus Lindholm has done an excellent job defensively even if he hasn't gotten the love fellow defenseman Charlie McAvoy has. And goalies Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark each have goals-against averages below 2.65 and save percentages above .915.
The Maple Leafs (12-6-3) are coming off a 4-3 shootout win against the Seattle Kraken on Thursday. They have 12 wins this season but seven have come after regulation. It's been a huge season for William Nylander, who has 28 points (12 goals, 16 assists) in 21 games and began the season with a 17-game point streak. Auston Matthews has 14 goals in 21 games. But let's see how they do in this next stretch without defensemen Mark Giordano, who's week to week because of a hand injury, as well as Timothy Liljegren (lower body) and John Klingberg (hip). Toronto may need to make a trade to improve that back end.
Colorado Avalanche at Los Angeles Kings (Sunday, 8 p.m. ET; BSW, ALT, SN1)
Cale Makar is on a tear with multipoint games in seven of his past nine for the Avalanche (15-6-1), including a goal and an assist in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday. He's pushing in that Norris Trophy race with Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks. Looking up and down their lineup, they can get offensive contributions from any forward line on any night and have a goalie in Alexandar Georgiev who leads the NHL in wins with 13 after tying for the lead with 40 last season. Colorado is a good road team (7-4-1) and clearly is on a mission after losing in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season following their Cup win in 2022.
The Kings (13-4-3) are one of the best teams in the League but have to play better at home. They're 4-4-3 at Crypto.com Arena while going 9-0-0 on the road. Forward Anze Kopitar's next assist will be his 758th, passing Marcel Dionne for the all-time Kings lead. He and Drew Doughty continue to drive Los Angeles. Doughty, at age 33 and in his 16th season, is third in the NHL in average ice time per game at 25:41. Cam Talbot has proven to be one of the best free agent signings of the offseason as the goalie is 10-4-1 with a 2.02 GAA and .928 save percentage in 15 games. For me, the Kings are jousting with the Stars for one of the top spots in the West, along with the Avalanche and Vegas Golden Knights.
