NHL TV Schedule: Washington Capitals and Golden Knights lead week
Welcome to Top Shelf TV, a preview of the week’s national NHL TV schedule. We comb through what’s airing on NBC, NBCSN, and NHL Network to tell you which games are worth your time and which ones to skip.
After three whole days without hockey, we have a short week for the national NHL TV schedule. Hockey returns from Christmas break tonight with a so-so doubleheader on Thursday, and a nice rivalry in the Central on Friday. This follows with a nice non-national schedule over the weekend
The action comes fast this week, so let’s get to it!
Thursday (Dec. 28)
Boston Bruins at Washington Capitals (7:30 p.m. ET/ 4:30 p.m. PT on NBCSN)
The Good: The Bruins have won five straight games. They will try to beat the Capitals for the first time since 2014. Braden Holtby probably has a majority stake in the Bruins’ ownership considering how well he has done against them.
The Bad: This is the tail end of a back-to-back for the Capitals, and things don’t get much easier from here. Washington plays four games the week following their Christmas break. We could see Washington drop a few points heading into the new year.
The Verdict: Hard maybe. This is the second week in a row the Bruins are victims of poor TV scheduling. They’re a fun team to watch in a vacuum, but you’d do better to watch the Capitals on Wednesday.
FLEURY DON'T NEED NO MASK TO MAKE NO SAVE pic.twitter.com/hBMjOHc5By
— Ryan Quigley (@ryanquigz) December 20, 2017
Vegas Golden Knights at Los Angeles Kings (10 p.m. ET/ 7 p.m. PT on NBCSN)
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The Good: The top two teams in the West square off. Much has been made of Vegas’ schedule heating up down the stretch: they have two big road trips in late January and February that should make or break their season.
In the mean time, they lead the West as James Neal continues to defy expectations in his age 30 season. Jonathan Marchessault is showing Florida he’s one of many mistakes on the Panthers part. With a healthy Marc-Andre Fleury, Vegas looks to be a sure-fire playoff team.
The Kings are coming off a longer Christmas break than most. Unfortunately, after the Knights game, they head out for a Western Canada road trip. These are two big points for Los Angeles. While Vegas and Los Angeles are tied on 48 points apiece, Vegas has three games in hand.
The Bad: Vegas has pointy elbows? Anze Kopitar has “Man Hands”? Not a lot to criticize here.
The Verdict: Must watch.
Friday (Dec. 29)
Nashville Predators at Minnesota Wild (8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT on NBCSN)
The Good: Just look at Nashville’s cap sheet. Lead by a young forward core including Filip Forsberg – who was acquired for a handful of magic beans – they’re just young and good and fun. And they should be for a while.
🎥 Bruce Boudreau on his club’s effort and determination in Tampa. https://t.co/PMAh33a0OO
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) December 24, 2017
The Bad: Pekka Rinne is starting to look every bit of 35 years old. Nashville lost three of his last five starts heading into the break, including an absolute shellacking in Carolina.
There’s still time for the Wild to get back in the playoff race in the characteristically tight Central. Goalie Devan Dubynk has battled some injuries, but he’s posted some suspect numbers this year.
Normally we’d insert this in the “good” column, but as refreshing as Eric Staal’s offensive resurgence has been, the 33-year old should not be leading the Wild in assists.
The Verdict: Hard maybe. Worth checking out for the Central Division intrigue, but far from Must See TV.
What do you think, reader? Will Washington go on a streak despite their rough schedule? Are we overrating the Knights? Let us know in the comments.
Saturday (Dec. 30)
There are some good games this weekend. Let’s take a quick look at the Hockey Night In Canada games.
Boston Bruins at Ottawa Senators (7:00 p.m. ET on Sportsnet)
The Good: An Atlantic Division rivalry is always good. Quietly, the Bruins and Senators have grown into rivals. This is a nice way to kick off the last Hockey Night In Canada of 2017.
Any excuse to watch Erik Karlsson play hockey works for us.
The Bad: The Senators are bad and Eugene Melnyk should feel bad.
Also, Ottawa will be playing the second leg of games on back-to-back nights.
The Verdict: If you love hockey, sure. But there are better games on.
Montreal Canadiens at Florida Panthers (7:00 p.m. ET on TVAS and CBC)
The Good: Again, Atlantic Division rivalries are nice. Do the Canadiens and Panthers have one? That’s debatable. But then again, we get to see Aleksander Barkov play hockey, so let’s call it one.
Montreal, whether they win or lose, is never short of dramatics. The final game of the 2017 calendar year for them shouldn’t be any different.
The Bad: Both teams aren’t playoff caliber. This could be a really boring game.
The Verdict: Pass.
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Los Angeles Kings at Vancouver Canucks (10:00 p.m. ET on Sportsnet and CBC)
The Good: The Kings are very fun to watch. Lowkey, the Canucks and LA have a pretty strong rivalry.
The Bad: Too bad it’s fairly one-sided.
The Verdict: Pass.