29. Vancouver Canucks. It is not necessarily the fact they so many points behind the third and fourth place teams in the North that is a concern. It is the fact they have played so many more games than those teams. Making up that ground is going to be a herculean task. With this forward depth, defense, and goaltending I am not sure they are capable of making up that ground.Florida Panthers

Backstrom has long been viewed (and promoted) as one of the league's most underappreciated stars; a Hall of Fame-worthy player who often gets lost in Alex Ovechkin's shadow. For his part, Backstrom doesn't mind living outside the spotlight. The 33-year-old Swede is polite and soft spoken. He revealed to my friend Isabelle Khurshudyan in 2018 that he grew up with a slight stutter, which forces him to choose his words carefully.

It is now year six of the Jack Eichel era for the Buffalo Sabres and in some ways the playoffs seem as far away today as they did when he arrived in the NHL.Ottawa Senators

(For what it’s worth, Kane brings his own double-edged sword game to the table, people just linger on it less. Probably because he scores even more than Laine, points-wise.)New York Islanders



Both the Devils and Capitals played on Saturday, with each team coming out on the losing end. Both New Jersey and Washington are 1-0-0 in the second game of a back-to-back this season

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Kris Letang, PIT vs. NYI ($20): While Letang has played better than his teammate Malkin, the defenseman doesn't have a goal yet this season. Will he light the lamp eventually? Assuredly yes, but I'm not betting on it happening against the Islanders. After all, Semyon Varlamov has a 1.89 GAA and .931 save percentage, and his defense keeps him from being too busy as well (27.4 shots on net per game).

Sometimes referees come into games looking to send a message early on to set the tone, especially in contentious rivalry matchups. The message on Tuesday was leave the goalies alone and that actually cost the Caps.Boston Bruins