NHL Schedule: Blackhawks, Blues lead weekly national televised games

Welcome to Top Shelf TV, a preview of the week’s national NHL schedule and television listings. We comb through the schedule on NBC, NBCSN, and NHL Network to tell you which games are worth your time and which ones to skip.

After two weeks of constant action, the scheduling gods go a little lighter on us. There are only five games in the national NHL TV listings this week, but four of those are part of NBCSN doubleheaders.

Should you be excited about even more Montreal Canadiens games on your TV? Does the Saturday night matchup beat college football? Are the doubleheaders worth staying up for?

Read on to find out.

No national games on Monday, so let’s head right to Tuesday.

Tuesday (Oct. 17)

Tampa Bay Lightning at New Jersey Devils (7:30 p.m. ET/ 4:30 p.m. PT on NBCSN)

Why you should watch: The Devils are off to a surprising 4-1-0 start behind some unlikely heroes up front and a resurgent Corey Schneider in net.

Brian Gibbons scored the first 3-on-5 goal in team history last week as the Devils topped the Maple Leafs in Toronto. Meanwhile, Schneider has found his game after a down 2016-17. He’s carrying an excellent .924 save percentage, including an unreal .961 at even strength.

The Lightning are also off to a 4-1-0 start and expected to contend again after injuries dogged their 2016-17 campaign. Second year center Brayden Point is blossoming. The team is coming off of three straight wins over 2017 playoff teams, including one over the defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins.

Skip it if: This match up sees the Lightning on the wrong end of a road back-to-back. They play Detroit the night before, and wrap up a road trip in Columbus on Thursday. The Lightning might be in rough shape.

Despite the Devils torrid start, they had the number one draft pick last year for a reason. This is a bad team that didn’t add much in the offseason. A bounce back season from Schneider makes them more bearable, but not by much.

Verdict: Skippable.

Montreal Canadiens at San Jose Sharks (10:30 p.m. ET/ 7:30 p.m. PT on NBCSN)

Why you should watch: Both of these teams are off to rough starts, but they also made the playoffs in 2017. It’s a star-studded match up. Defending Norris Trophy winner Brent Burns anchors the San Jose blue line, while Montreal’s Carey Price is the only active goalie with a Hart Trophy to his name.

San Jose took three games to record their first point, a 3-2 win over the Sabres on October 12. Due to scheduling quirks and a poor start, they sit on just two points in four games entering the week. Burns has a single assist and no goals on the season.

The Canadiens are struggling as well.

"The Montreal Canadiens are feeling about as much pressure as a team could feel entering the second weekend of the 2017-18 season. They have a 1-3 record and have only scored four goals in their four games to begin the year."

Price hasn’t been himself either. Montreal’s number one goalie has just a .882 save percentage on the year.

Verdict: Skippable. Get some rest.