The Week Ahead: At the Break

The NHL finally returns to action Saturday after a 12-day holiday for the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament. Plenty of players will be well-rested, save for the 90+ who participated in the tourney. Look for some stars to take a couple of days off to rest.

WEEK OF FEBRUARY 17-23

2 Games – Anaheim, Chicago, Colorado, Dallas, Detroit, Edmonton, Nashville, New Jersey, New York Rangers, Pittsburgh, Seattle, St. Louis, Toronto, Utah, Vancouver, Washington

1 Game – Boston, Buffalo, Calgary, Carolina, Columbus, Florida, Los Angeles, Minnesota, New York Islanders, Ottawa, Philadelphia, San Jose, Tampa Bay, Vegas, Winnipeg

ANAHEIM

Games this week @ Boston, @ Detroit

Tired: None

Rested: None

Notes: Troy Terry and Frank Vatrano lead the Ducks with 16 goals, while Terry is tops in points with 39...Ross Johnston has 66 penalty minutes (PIM)...Radko Gudas has 181 hits and 124 blocked shots...Ryan Strome has won 331 face-offs with Isac Lundestrom a close second with 304...Mason McTavish had 48 face-off wins on the power play...The Ducks play back-to-back games, so look for Lukas Dostal and John Gibson to share the net.

BOSTON

Games this week vs. Anaheim

Tired: None

Rested: None

Notes: David Pastrnak leads the Bruins with 28 goals and 68 points. He has been red-hot of late as he is on a 13-game point streak, tallying 11 goals and 15 assists to move into eighth place in NHL scoring...Nikita Zadorov leads the NHL with 117 PIM...Mark Kastelic has 184 hits, while Brandon Carlo leads the Bruins with 108 blocked shots...Elias Lindholm has 552 face-off wins, including 100 on the power play.

BUFFALO

Games this week vs. New York Rangers

Tired: None

Rested: None

Notes: Tage Thompson leads the Sabres with 26 goals and 48 points...Jason Zucker has 53 PIM, two minutes ahead of Dylan Cozens...Cozens has won 402 face-offs as well as 62 on the power play. The Sabres primarily use him with the man advantage as he has taken 120 face-offs with Thompson second at only 48...Connor Clifton has 139 hits while Owen Power has 83 blocked shots.

CALGARY

Games this week vs. San Jose

Tired: None

Rested: None

Notes: Jonathan Huberdeau is tops on the Flames with 21 goals and 41 points, one point better than Nazem Kadri...Brayden Pachal has 76 PIM, two ahead of Martin Pospisil...Pospisil is first with 191 hits with Rasmus Andersson leading with 129 blocked shots...Mikael Backlund has 515 face-off wins while Kadri has 57 power play face-off wins.

CAROLINA

Games this week @ Toronto

Tired: None

Rested: None

Notes: Seth Jarvis leads the Hurricanes with 22 goals...Sebastian Aho is tops with 55 points (even with Martin Necas, who was dealt on Jan. 24 to Colorado, who had 55 points before the trade) ...Andrei Svechnikov has 38 PIM...William Carrier is first with 136 hits while Jaccob Slavin has 97 blocked shots...Jordan Staal has 556 face-off wins with Aho leading on the power play with 95 face-off wins.

CHICAGO  

Games this week @ Columbus, vs. Toronto

Tired: None

Rested: None

Notes: The Blackhawks play back-to-back games, so expect Petr Mrazek and Arvid Soderblom to share the crease...Ryan Donato has 19 goals with Connor Bedard leading the way with 49 points...Patrick Maroon has 71 PIM...Nick Foligno has 135 hits while Alex Vlasic has 106 blocked shots...Jason Dickinson has won 420 face-offs with Donato leading the way in face-off wins during the man advantage with 29.

COLORADO

Games this week @ Nashville, @ St. Louis

Tired: None

Rested: None

Notes: Mackenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood should share the net this week with back-to-back games...Nathan MacKinnon leads the NHL with 87 points...Artturi Lehkonen has 23 goals to lead all active Avalanche players, though Mikko Rantanen had 25 in a Colorado uniform before his trade to Carolina...Miles Wood has 44 PIM despite playing only 23 games...Parker Kelly has 110 hits with Cale Makar leading the way with 91 blocked shots...MacKinnon has 521 face-off wins with 60 coming on the power play, to lead both categories.

COLUMBUS

Games this week vs. Chicago

Tired: None

Rested: None

Notes: Kirill Marchenko, who is out indefinitely with a broken jaw, is tops on the Blue Jackets with 21 goals...Zach Werenski leads the team with 59 points...Mathieu Olivier has 99 PIM and 205 hits...Dante Fabbro is first with 96 blocked shots...Sean Monahan has missed the last 15 games with a broken wrist, but still leads in face-off wins with 456, including 74 with the man advantage.

DALLAS

Games this week @ New Jersey, @ New York Islanders  

Tired: @ New York Islanders (Sunday)

Rested: None

Notes: The Stars play a pair of games this week, so look for Casey DeSmith to play Saturday and give Jake Oettinger an extra night off after being in the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament...Roope Hintz and Matt Duchene each have 22 goals with Duchene leading the way with 55 points...Jamie Benn has 60 PIM and 80 hits...Esa Lindell is tops with 122 blocked shots...Wyatt Johnston has 308 face-off wins with Benn once again leading on the power play with 55 wins.

DETROIT

Games this week vs. Minnesota, vs. Anaheim   

Tired: None

Rested: None

Notes: The Red Wings play back-to-back games, so Cam Talbot and Alex Lyon will split the net...Alex DeBrincat is first with 24 goals, one better than Dylan Larkin with Lucas Raymond leading with 59 points...Ben Chiarot has 43 PIM...Moritz Seider has 144 hits and 123 blocked shots...Larkin has 610 face-off wins with 117 coming on the power play.

EDMONTON

Games this week @ Philadelphia, @ Washington

Tired: None

Rested: None

Notes: Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard will split the crease this week...Leon Draisaitl leads the NHL with 40 goals and his 83 points place him in second, four points in arrears of Nathan MacKinnon...Darnell Nurse has 40 PIM and 88 blocked shots...Vasily Podkolzin has 118 hits...Draisaitl has 527 face-off wins with 100 coming on the power play...It seems unnatural not to see Connor McDavid's name leading some categories.

FLORIDA

Games this week vs. Seattle

Tired: None

Rested: None

Notes: The Panthers are led by Sam Reinhart who leads with 31 goals and 62 points...A.J. Greer has 78 PIM and 157 hits...Niko Mikkola has 74 blocked shots...Aleksander Barkov has 428 face-off wins, including 94 on the power play.

LOS ANGELES

Games this week vs. Utah

Tired: None

Rested: None

Notes: Adrian Kempe has 25 goals and 46 points, one point better than Anze Kopitar...Tanner Jeannot has 74 PIM and 153 hits over 50 appearances...Vladislav Gavrikov has 108 blocked shots...Kopitar has 592 face-off wins with 90 occurring on the power play.

MINNESOTA

Games this week @ Detroit  

Tired: None

Rested: None

Notes: Kirill Kaprizov leads the Wild with 23 goals and 52 points despite missing 18 of his last 21 games with a lower-body injury that required surgery...Ryan Hartman has 60 PIM...Marcus Foligno has 177 hits with Jake Middleton on top with 113 blocked shots...Joel Eriksson Ek has 351 face-off wins including 128 with the man-advantage.

MONTREAL

Games this week @ Ottawa

Tired: None

Rested: None

Notes: Cole Caufield is first on the Habs with 26 goals and trails Nick Suzuki by three as Suzuki has 52 points...Arber Xhekaj has 83 PIM and 140 hits, 19 hits more than Josh Anderson and Juraj Slafkovsky...David Savard has 122 blocked shots...Suzuki has 430 face-off wins, 30 better than Christian Dvorak. Suzuki also leads in power play wins with 92.

NASHVILLE

Games this week vs. Colorado, vs. New Jersey

Tired: None

Rested: None

Notes: The Predators play back-to-back, so look for Juuse Saros and Justus Annunen to split the starting assignments...Filip Forsberg has 21 goals and 53 points while Michael McCarron has 59 penalty minutes to lead the way...Luke Schenn has 200 hits with Roman Josi on top in blocked shots with 87...Ryan O'Reilly has 478 face-off wins, including 71 on the power play.

NEW JERSEY

Games this week vs. Dallas, @ Nashville

Tired: None

Rested: None

Notes: The Devils play back-to-back games on the weekend, so expect to see Jake Allen and Nico Daws share the crease, as Jacob Markstrom should remain on the sidelines with a sprained MCL...Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier lead with 24 goals, with Hughes leading with 65 points, one ahead of Jesper Bratt...Brenden Dillon has 56 PIM...Paul Cotter has 185 hits while Brett Pesce has 99 blocked shots...Hischier leads with 677 face-off wins, including 109 with the man advantage.

NEW YORK ISLANDERS

Games this week vs. Dallas

Tired: None

Rested: vs. Dallas (Sunday)

Notes: Anders Lee has 23 goals and 41 assists this season to lead the Islanders...Maxim Tsyplakov has 33 PIM...Casey Cizikas has 151 hits while Alexander Romanov has 108 blocked shots, three better than Ryan Pulock...Bo Horvat has 501 face-off wins with 87 coming on the power play.

NEW YORK RANGERS

Games this week @ Buffalo, @ Pittsburgh

Tired: None

Rested: None

Notes: The Rangers play a back-to-back set this weekend...Look for Igor Shesterkin (if healthy as he has an upper-body injury) and Jonathan Quick to split the crease...Artemi Panarin has 23 goals and 57 points...Matt Rempe and Sam Carrick each have 39 PIM...Will Cuylle has 204 hits, with Braden Schneider tops in blocked shots with 100...Vincent Trocheck has 642 face-off wins this season, with 113 coming with the man advantage.

OTTAWA 

Games this week vs. Montreal

Tired: None

Rested: None

Notes: Brady Tkachuk has 21 goals with Tim Stutzle leading the way with 56 points...Tkachuk has 101 PIM and 188 hits while Jake Sanderson has 116 blocked shots...Claude Giroux has 430 face-off wins this season with Tkachuk topping all with 60 face-off wins on the power play, one better than Giroux.

PHILADELPHIA

Games this week vs. Edmonton

Tired: None

Rested: None

Notes: Travis Konecny has 22 goals and 61 points to lead the Flyers...Garnet Hathaway has 46 PIM and 205 hits...Nick Seeler leads the Flyers with 130 blocked shots, four better than Travis Sanheim...Sean Couturier has 463 face-off wins while the recently departed Morgan Frost has 56 face-off wins as a Flyer.

PITTSBURGH

Games this week vs. Washington, vs. New York Rangers

Tired: None

Rested: None

Notes: The Penguins play a pair of games this week, so expect to see Alex Nedeljkovic and Joel Blomqvist share the starts...Rickard Rakell has 25 goals with Sidney Crosby leading the way offensively with 58 points...Michael Bunting has 48 PIM...Noel Acciari has 122 hits with the recently dealt Marcus Pettersson leading with 83 blocked shots...Sidney Crosby leads the NHL with 702 face-off wins, including 113 on the power play. 

SAN JOSE

Games this week @ Calgary

Tired: None

Rested: None

Notes: Tyler Toffoli has 20 goals while the traded Mikael Granlund still leads in points with 45...William Eklund and Macklin Celebrini head the list of active players with 40 points...Barclay Goodrow has 45 PIM...Luke Kunin has 146 hits while Cody Ceci has 100 blocked shots...Alexander Wennberg has 322 face-off wins, four in arrears of Granlund, while Wennberg leads in power play face-off wins with 64.

SEATTLE

Games this week @ Florida, @ Tampa Bay

Tired: @ Tampa Bay (Sunday)

Rested: None

Notes: The Kraken play a pair of games in the state of Florida, so look for Joey Daccord and Victor Ostman to split the net...Jordan Eberle (pelvis) was sent on a conditioning stint to the AHL after missing the last 40 games...Jaden Schwartz has 18 goals while Jared McCann leads the team with 42 points...Brandon Montour has 37 PIM...Eeli Tolvanen has 175 hits with Jamie Oleksiak leading the way in blocked shots with 119...Chandler Stephenson has 555 face-off wins with 83 coming on the power play.

ST. LOUIS

Games this week vs. Winnipeg, vs. Colorado

Tired: None

Rested: None

Notes: The Blues play a pair of back-to-back home games, so expect Jordan Binnington (who will likely play Sunday versus Colorado as he is Canada's top netminder) and Joel Hofer to share the crease...Jordan Kyrou leads with 23 goals and 44 points...Brayden Schenn has 48 PIM...Nathan Walker has 168 hits while Colton Parayko leads with 127 blocked shots...Robert Thomas has 482 face-off wins, including 56 on the power play, despite missing 12 games with a fractured ankle earlier in the season.

TAMPA BAY

Games this week vs. Seattle  

Tired: None

Rested: vs. Seattle (Sunday)

Notes: The Lightning are led by Brayden Point who has 31 goals while Nikita Kucherov leads the way with 82 points, third overall in the NHL...Emil Lilleberg has 76 PIM...Zemgus Girgensons has 106 hits with Ryan McDonagh on top in blocked shots with 105...Anthony Cirelli has 441 face-off wins while Brayden Point has 43 wins with the man advantage, one better than Jake Guentzel.

TORONTO

Games this week vs. Carolina, @ Chicago

Tired: None

Rested: None

Notes: The Maple Leafs play back-to-back weekend games...Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll will share the crease...William Nylander is first in goals with 33, while Mitch Marner has 71 points, good for fourth in the NHL...Oliver Ekman-Larsson has 40 PIM...Steven Lorentz has 135 hits, one better than Simon Benoit...Chris Tanev has 148 blocked shots...John Tavares has 475 face-off wins, including 88 on the power play.

UTAH

Games this week @ Los Angeles, @ Vancouver

Tired: None

Rested: None

Notes: Karel Vejmelka and Connor Ingram are expected to share the net in back-to-back games this week...Clayton Keller and Dylan Guenther each have 20 goals, with Keller leading Utah with 60 points...Michael Kesselring has 65 PIM...Jack McBain has 192 hits with Ian Cole leading the way in blocked shots with 149...Kevin Stenlund has 400 face-off wins with Barrett Hayton tops in power-play face-off wins with 44.

VANCOUVER

Games this week @ Vegas, @ Utah

Tired: None

Rested: None

Notes: The Canucks play a pair of back-to-back road games, so look for Thatcher Demko and Kevin Lankinen to split the starts...Jake DeBrusk is the surprise leader in goals with 19, while Quinn Hughes, who is out of action with an oblique injury, leads all Vancouver skaters with 59 points...Tyler Myers has 60 PIM and 94 blocked shots...Kiefer Sherwood leads the NHL with 294 hits...J.T. Miller, who was dealt to the Rangers last month, leads with 409 face-off wins with 58 coming on the power play...Teddy Blueger leads all active Canucks in face-off victories, as he has 336, six better than Elias Pettersson.

VEGAS

Games this week vs. Vancouver

Tired: None

Rested: None

Notes: The Golden Knights suffered a big blow at the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament as Shea Theodore is week-to-week with an upper-body injury...Pavel Dorofeyev has 24 goals with Jack Eichel on top in points with 69...Keegan Kolesar has 39 PIM and 164 hits...Brayden McNabb leads the way with 123 blocked shots...Eichel is first with 410 face-off wins, while Tomas Hertl has 85 face-off victories on the power play.

WASHINGTON

Games this week @ Pittsburgh, vs. Edmonton

Tired: None

Rested: None

Notes: The Capitals play back-to-back games, so expect Logan Thompson and Charlie Lindgren to split the starts...Alex Ovechkin leads the team with 26 goals, despite missing 16 games earlier in the season with a fractured left fibula...Dylan Strome has 54 points while Tom Wilson has 50 PIM...Wilson also leads with 156 hits...Martin Fehervary has 112 blocked shots...Strome has 487 face-off wins, including 121 on the power play.

WINNIPEG

Games this week @ St. Louis

Tired: None

Rested: None

Notes: Mark Scheifele leads the Jets with 31 goals, one better than Kyle Connor who has 69 points...Logan Stanley has 61 penalty minutes...Nino Niederreiter has 104 hits while Neal Pionk leads the team with 87 blocked shots, three better than Josh Morrissey...Adam Lowry has 413 face-off wins while Scheifele, who has 11 fewer face-off wins, leads with 74 on the power play.