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.

Vegas Golden Knights at Los Angeles Kings (10 p.m. ET/ 7 p.m. PT on NBCSN)

More from Puck Prose

• Detroit Red Wings 2023 Rookie Camp Has Plenty of Ups and Downs
• This Columbus Blue Jackets rookie doesn’t want to be forgotten
• 2 trades the Boston Bruins must make to secure the Stanley Cup
• 3 reasons the Avalanche won’t win the Stanley Cup in 2024
• This is a big year for Alex Turcotte and the Los Angeles Kings

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.

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.