Three Storylines to watch out for across two NHL games on Wednesday Night Hockey
We’ve got two NHL games to look forward to on this Wednesday.
It is a fairly quiet night in the NHL with only two games on the schedule, but they are two intriguing games with the Detroit Red Wings taking on the Tampa Bay Lightning followed by a huge East Division showdown between the Boston Bruins and the Philadelphia Flyers.
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The Lightning are 5-1-1 on the year and will be looking to take advantage of a rebuilding Red Wings team, who are winless in their last six games (0-4-2), while there will be plenty on the line when the Bruins face off against the Flyers.
The B’s have points in their past six games (5-0-1), are 6-1-2 on the year and have been boosted by the return of pure goalscorer David Pastrnak, who has two goals and one assist for three points in two games. Boston also came back from a 3-0 hole on Monday to defeat the Washington Capitals 5-3, while the Flyers are riding a four-game winning streak heading into tonight’s contest.
So, while we only have two games to look forward to tonight, both have loads riding on them as we get deeper and deeper into the 2020-21 NHL season, and there will be a plethora of plot lines to keep an eye on and watch unfold across the two games, so let’s delve right into them without any further delay…
Three Storylines to keep an eye on throughout Wednesday’s two games
3. Can Dylan Larkin lead the Detroit Red Wings to a big win?
As mentioned above, the Detroit Red Wings are 0-4-2 in their past six games and are 2-6-2 on the year, although they have been a lot more competitive than they were in 2019-20, a year we don’t need to revisit. However, the Red Wings haven’t been able to finish having lost two of their last six games in Overtime and another contest by one goal.
There is plenty of encouraging signs for the rebuilding Red Wings, though, and they have been spearheaded by Captain Dylan Larkin, who has nine points (4 G, 5 A) in 10 games, while averaging 21:26 of total ice time.
Larkin has arguably been Detroit’s standout player through the first few weeks of the 2020-21 season and he will need to carve out a big game if the Red Wings are to beat a loaded Tampa Bay Lightning team, who swept a two-game series of the Nashville Predators and boast a abundance of both talent and depth.
2. Will David Pastrnak be at full tilt?
David Pastrnak missed the first couple of weeks of the 2020-21 NHL season after undergoing hip surgery during the offseason, and his absence was noticeable even though the Boston Bruins managed to roll on and stay more than afloat in the absence of their joint Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy winner in 2019-20.
Pastrnak made his return on the weekend and he made an impact in the two games against the Washington Capitals with two goals and one assist for three points, slotting straight in on the top-line alongside his usual partners in-crime in Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron.
The elite right-winger is already logging 20:15 of total ice time and he looked pretty sharp in Boston’s 5-3 win over the Capitals, although it is likely that Pastrnak isn’t at the peak of his powers yet having been away from the ice for a considerable amount of time and only being back for a grand total of two games.
Therefore, it is possible that David Pastrnak could be closer to his best tonight having got a couple of games under his belt and, if that’s the case, then that could spell trouble for the Philadelphia Flyers. After all, the 24-year-old is one of the most dynamic offensive weapons in the NHL both at 5-on-5 and on the power play, and he is only going to get more dangerous the more he blows off the cobwebs and gets back into the swing of things.
1. Battle of the Heavyweights
The Boston Bruins and the Philadelphia Flyers are two of the top teams in a stacked East Division, with the Flyers currently top of the division with a 7-2-1 record and Boston third with a 6-1-2 record. However, both teams have areas they can improve on and that means that both should be battling it out at the top all year long.
For instance, the Bruins currently rank 19th in the NHL at 5-on-5 with an average of 1.56 goals-per-game and 14th in Goals For Per Game (3.11), although the return of David Pastrnak should only help to boost their offense and add a much-needed scoring punch to this team.
On the flip side, though, Boston rank third in expected goals against per game (2.23), they also rank third in Goals Against Per Game (2.22) and Charlie McAvoy is starting to take that next giant leap in his development, averaging 24:35 of total ice time, while the B’s have gotten superb goaltending from their reliable tandem of Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak.
Then there is the Philadelphia Flyers who rank 28th in expected goals against per game (2.26) and 18th in the NHL in Goals Against Per Game (3.00), with only the stellar play of goaltenders Carter Hart and Brian Elliott bailing them out. The Flyers have also struggled at 5-on-5 and have allowed 21 goals against at even-strength, so they will need to make considerable improvements if they are to remain the top dog in the East Division.
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Overall, there is no doubt that the Boston Bruins and the Philadelphia Flyers are two absolute juggernauts, and they’ve both managed to carve out good starts to the 2020-21 season despite showing considerable flaws. However, both teams have the talent and the experience to be able to iron out any kinks and games like tonight will go a long way in deciding which of these franchises will claim that top seed come the end of the year.