Storylines to watch in the NHL’s 11-game Sunday Schedule

2. Crosby Vs. Lafreniere

We have another mouthwatering matchup in the East Division tonight as the New York Rangers take on the Pittsburgh Penguins at the PPG Paints Arena, and it should be another good one after the Pens won 4-3 in a Shootout on Friday. The Penguins are 3-2-0 on the year while the Rangers are 1-2-1, so both teams will be going all out for a big win tonight.

And it will also give us another opportunity to watch Sidney Crosby and Alexis Lafreniere duel it out, with both products of Rimouski Oceanic and the comparables between the two are just unavoidable at this point. Crosby is a franchise player and one of the best to have ever laced them up in the NHL, and the Rangers will be hoping that Lafreniere can carve out a similar career given his generational talent.

Granted, it has been a slow start for Lafreniere in 2020-21 with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft yet to record a point in four games with a -2 rating, although he has shown flashes of his undoubted ability and he’s likely to continue on a top-line with Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad tonight, meaning that he will get to go up against Crosby once again.

It should be a fascinating battle between the present and the future of the NHL, and tonight’s showdown between the Rangers and the Penguins would be the perfect opportunity for Lafreniere to truly announce his arrival to the rest of the hockey world by getting his first point or two, while Crosby will also be hoping to make a sizeable impact after being held pointless on Friday.

3. Minnesota Runnin’ Wild

It has been an incredible start to the 2020-21 season for the Minnesota Wild who are currently second in the West Division with a 4-1-0 record, just behind the Vegas Golden Knights who sit atop the Division.

While it is still early days, the Wild have looked impressive so far and a lot of their success can be attributed to rookie Kirill Kaprizov, who has taken the NHL by storm and currently leads all rookies in points with five (1 G, 4 A). Kaprizov, who has an Overtime winner under his belt, is proving to be the spark this stagnant franchise badly needed and he’s pure entertainment every single time he has the puck on his stick.

Center Joel Eriksson EK is also off to a hot start with three goals and two assists for five points in five games, and the Wild will be leaning on more magic from Kaprizov to try and earn a second consecutive win over the San Jose Sharks after beating them 4-1 in their home opener on Friday, a game that saw Zach Parise score his first goal of the year.

Tonight’s game will also be an important one for the Sharks given that they are 2-3-0 to start the year and, in a season where they are expected to once again miss the postseason, the pressure will really start to build if they can’t begin to turn things around with there little room for error in a 56-game season.

4. Revenge on the mind

There will be a handful of intriguing revenge games on the slate tonight, with certain teams looking to bounce back after rough outings last time out. None more so than the Nashville Predators who were humiliated and blown out in a 7-0 to the Dallas Stars on Friday, a team that was playing in its season opener.

Then you have the Vegas Golden Knights who have been one of the best teams in the NHL so far this year, but their perfect record was brought to an end on Friday when they were beat 5-2 by the Arizona Coyotes, with sophomore forward Cody Glass‘ first goal of the season not enough to stop the Coyotes. The two teams meet again later tonight and you can bet that the Golden Knights will be more motivated than ever to bounce back in order to keep their grip on the West Division.

You can apply the same to the Buffalo Sabres who have lost three games to the Washington Capitals already this year, and the Sabres really need to start moving after a bitterly disappointing start to the season despite adding the likes of Taylor Hall and Eric Staal during the offseason.

The LA Kings will also be looking for revenge after losing to the St. Louis Blues 4-2 on Saturday, with Torey Krug recording his first goal for the Blues, while the New Jersey Devils will take on the New York Islanders tonight without Mackenzie Blackwood again, as they were on Thursday when the Isles clinched a 4-1 win thanks to a three-point night from Mathew Barzal (1 G, 2 A), so the Devils will be hoping for a bounce-back of their own as will all these teams with each and every game extra important this year.

5. Two Battles in the North

The North Division has been a hell of a lot of fun to watch so far and it could be one of the closest Divisions to call, along with the East Division. The Montreal Canadiens are starting to look like an absolute juggernaut, but they will have some stiff competition.

And we will see some of that competition tonight with the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Calgary Flames and the Edmonton Oilers at the Winnipeg Jets. Both should be mouthwatering showdowns and there will be a lot of storylines to keep an eye on in these two games alone.

For starters, the Maple Leafs, who are 4-2-0 on the year, will be hoping that Auston Matthews will be good to go tonight after he missed his team’s 4-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Friday, although both John Tavares and Mitch Marner stepped up to the plate in that game.

If Matthews is indeed back then Toronto will be nearly at full-strength against a Calgary Flames team who are 2-0-1 on the year, while all eyes will be on the Edmonton Oilers who are 2-4-0 on the year and they have not had a good start to the 2020-21 season, despite having both Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on the roster.

McDavid has seven points (4 G, 3 A) on the year but the Oilers currently rank 22nd in Goals Against Per Game (3.33) in the NHL, and they will have to be a lot better defensively and between the pipes against the Winnipeg Jets later, who seem to be picking up steam and they currently boast the leading points scorer in the NHL in Kyle Connor, who has nine points (4 G, 5 A) in just five games.

One thing is for sure, though, and that’s the fact that we are in for one hell of a day in the National Hockey League with no less than a mouthwatering and compelling 11 games to keep us entertained on a Sunday.