HNIC Coast To Coast: Huberdeau, Flames Hope To Build On Surprising Start

It’s been a jam-packed second full week of action across the National Hockey League, and Canada’s seven teams are no exception. Already, we’ve seen some surprising results, with a few teams going against the grain of expectation out of the gate.

The entire Canadian crew are back in action this weekend, all getting opportunities to bolster hot starts or turn around early slumps. As we do every Friday, let’s take a look at all seven games on the calendar.

7:00 p.m. ET HNIC Matchup: New York Rangers @ Toronto Maple Leafs

Our first headliner involves two teams looking to prove themselves as contenders this season and, to their credit, both the Maple Leafs and Rangers have lived up to expectations thus far.

After a disappointing 1-0 shutout loss to begin the year against Montreal, the Leafs have won three in a row, and done it without a breakout moment from any of their top stars and with their projected starting netminder on IR.

In Wednesday’s 6-2 win over Los Angeles, for example, the hot stick belonged to Bobby McMann, who was in the press box for that first game but had two tallies on the night. Anthony Stolarz was stellar in goal, stopping 32 of 34 shots. To the credit of the “Core Four”, all of them got on the scoreboard in some way against the Kings, but none felt dire to the result.

One or more of them will likely have to carry their momentum against the Rangers, though, as the defending Presidents’ Trophy winners are picking up where they left off last season. New York has yet to lose in regulation, and in yesterday’s 5-2 win against the Detroit Red Wings, superstar forward Artemi Panarin popped off for a hat trick, upping him to five goals through four games. Igor Shesterkin got the night off, but Jonathan Quick stopped 29 of 31 shots, showing signs that their formidable tandem is ready for another strong year.

10:00 p.m. ET HNIC Headliner: Calgary Flames @ Seattle Kraken

There has been no bigger positive surprise among the Canadian teams, if not the league at large, than the Calgary Flames have been out of the gate. They’ll be entering into Saturday with a perfect record, going 4-0-0 to start the year.

The streak began with a come-from-behind win against the Vancouver Canucks, who were up 4-1 in the first period of the season but ultimately were matched and bested by a strong Calgary push across regulation and overtime. Two of the Flames’ next three games were against lower-projected opponents in Philadelphia and Chicago, though points are still points, and they sandwiched a win against the Stanley Cup-projected, arch-rival Oilers in between.

Rasmus Andersson and Jonathan Huberdeau led the way on the scoresheet, each putting up six points. A big year from Huberdeau would be a huge find for the team, as the 31-year-old winger has struggled since signing in Calgary. Dustin Wolf has been great in goal, posting a .944 save percentage across his two starts.

Their opponents, the Seattle Kraken, have had a pretty decent start to their season, winning three of their first five and staying competitive in their two losses to St. Louis and Dallas. Seattle has scored 13 goals in their last two games and hopes to carry that firepower into Saturday’s game. In the season series last year, the two teams split the wins with a pair apiece, though the Kraken earned the points edge through an overtime loss.

Other Canadian NHL Games On Saturday

There are four other games in Canadian NHL action on Saturday:

Tampa Bay Lightning @ Ottawa Senators, 1:00 p.m. ET – The Bolts seem to have their groove back, winning three in a row to start the year, while Nikita Kucherov already has seven points to his name. Watch out for their skill on both sides of the puck in this one. Ottawa have been hot and cold out of the gate – defeating the defending champion Panthers to start and winning an 8-7 barn burner against the Kings, but dropping results to Montreal and New Jersey.

Edmonton Oilers @ Dallas Stars, 4:00 p.m. ET – A rematch of the Western Conference Final sees these two teams in pretty different spots. The Stars picked up right where they left off to open the season, winning their first four, but conceded their first loss yesterday against Washington. The Oilers had a shockingly bad start, losing their first three by a 15-3 combined score, but have since found wins against Philadelphia and Nashville. Perhaps returning to the scene of their last series win will be a good omen?

Montreal Canadiens @ New York Islanders, 7:00 p.m. ET – After two wins in their first three games, the Canadiens have looked more like the team that’s been hanging around the basement in recent seasons, losing 6-3 to Pittsburgh and 4-1 to Los Angeles this week. Things haven’t been too much better for the Islanders, however. The team coached by former Habs great Patrick Roy has had its own troubles, beating the Avalanche on Monday but losing its other three games. Two of those losses, against Dallas and St. Louis, were shutouts.

Vancouver Canucks @ Philadelphia Flyers, 7:00 p.m. ET – These two teams are getting their inter-conference season series out of the way immediately, having just faced each other a week ago. In that game, the Flyers got the best of the Canucks by a hair, coming from behind twice before winning in a shootout. The Canucks finally got in the win column for the first time yesterday after beating the Panthers in overtime, but they still have work to do before they can call their current road trip a success. A win on Saturday would go a long way.

Away Team			Home Team	Time (ET)
Tampa Bay Lightning	-148	+123	Ottawa Senators	1:00 PM
Edmonton Oilers	+112	-136	Dallas Stars	4:00 PM
New York Rangers	+100	-121	Toronto Maple Leafs	7:00 PM
Montreal Canadiens	+148	-182	New York Islanders	7:00 PM
Vancouver Canucks	-121	+100	Philadelphia Flyers	7:00 PM
Calgary Flames	+108	-130	Seattle Kraken	10:00 PM

Sunday Canadian NHL Action

There is just one Canadian team in NHL action on Sunday, as the Winnipeg Jets host the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Jets are undefeated out of the gate, shocking Edmonton with a 6-0 win on opening night, but since scraping by, beating Chicago and Minnesota by matching 2-1 overtime scores. Nevertheless, they’ll take the points where they can get them, and they could build some further confidence Friday against the Sharks as a precursor to Sunday’s game.

The Penguins have had an interesting start, laying a huge egg against the Rangers in their 6-0 opening night loss but since recovering with wins in three of their last four. All three of those wins included six goals in each contest, putting Evgeni Malkin in contention for the early league-lead in scoring. He might be a hot hand to consider for a prop bet on Sunday.

Puck drop is at 3:00 p.m. ET.

Away Team			Home Team	Time (ET)
Pittsburgh Penguins	TBD	TBD	Winnipeg Jets	3:00 PM