'Frozen Frenzy' top games debated by NHL.com

Get ready for the "Frozen Frenzy."

The first of its kind will take place Tuesday with all 32 NHL teams in action and ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN+ providing coverage of all 16 games.

Part of the Frenzy will be a tripleheader on ESPN, starting with Toronto Maple Leafs visiting the Washington Capitals at 6 p.m. ET. That game will be followed by the Boston Bruins at the Chicago Blackhawks and 2023 No. 1 pick Connor Bedard at 8:30 p.m. ET, and then the Vegas Golden Knights putting their 6-0-0 record on the line against the Philadelphia Flyers at 11 p.m. ET.

With most of the games having staggered start times, ESPN+ will have whip-around coverage from 7-8 p.m. ET, and then it will flip to ESPN2. The show will be hosted by John Buccigross and Kevin Weekes.

The schedule Tuesday is littered with amazing storylines and star-studded matchups. There is something to see in every game, but we asked 10 staff writers which game they are most looking forward to watching.

Showdown of special scorers

What better way to begin the Frenzy than a showdown between two of the top goal-scorers of their era with Auston Matthews and the Toronto Maple Leafs visiting Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena (6 pm. ET; ESPN+, ESPN, TSN4)? Matthews leads the NHL with 305 goals since debuting in 2016-17, and Ovechkin is second during that span with 297 goals. He's also second in NHL history with 822 goals, 72 behind Wayne Gretzky's League record of 894. Matthews started hot, becoming the fifth player in NHL history to get hat tricks in the first two games of the season and first since Ovechkin in 2017-18. -- Tom Gulitti, staff writer

Atlantic Division showdown

I continue to be intrigued by the future of the Atlantic Division, by the up-and-coming teams that are waiting to knock some of the recent powers -- the Boston Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning and Maple Leafs -- off their perches. There are three teams that I'm looking at, and two of them face off at Canadian Tire Centre when the Buffalo Sabres visit the Ottawa Senators (6:45 p.m. ET; RDS2, TSN5, MSG-B). Though the Detroit Red Wings have raced to a 5-1-0 record this season, I still believe more in the Sabres and Senators. The Senators have four players with six points in five games: Tim Stutzle (two goals, four assists), Jake Sanderson (three goals, three assists), Brady Tkachuk (four goals, two assists) and Vladimir Tarasenko (two goals, four assists). The Sabres, too, have shown promise, with impressive early results from defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, among others. -- Amalie Benjamin, staff writer

Southern showdown

The Frenzy features a battle of Eastern Conference heavyweights. The Tampa Bay Lightning's three-season run to the Stanley Cup Final (2020-22), highlighted by Stanley Cup championships in 2020 and 2021, ended when they lost in the Eastern Conference First Round last season. The Carolina Hurricanes made it to the Eastern Conference Final last season and remain legitimate Cup candidates. They meet at Amalie Arena (7 p.m. ET; BSSUN, BSSO) and it will serve as a good litmus test for each team. The game will feature two of the best veteran defensemen in the game, Tampa Bay's Victor Hedman and Carolina's Brent Burns. Each will get serious consideration for the Hockey Hall of Fame when their illustrious careers are finished. -- Mike Zeisberger, staff writer

Young stars shine in Montreal

New Jersey Devils center Jack Hughes and Montreal Canadiens right wing Cole Caufield renew acquaintances when the former teammates with USA Hockey's National Team Development Program go head to head for the third time in the NHL at Bell Centre (7:15 p.m. ET; RDS, TSN2, MSGSN2). Hughes, the No. 1 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, has 10 points (four goals, six assists) in four games this season and has five points (four goals, one assist) and a plus-3 rating in two games, each a Devils victory, against his former NTDP linemate. Caufield, the No. 15 pick in 2019, has five points (three goals, two assists) in four games this season. Hughes is the NTDP's all-time leader in points (228), while Caufield is the all-time leader in goals (126). -- Mike G. Morreale, staff writer

Superstars shine in Texas

The Pittsburgh Penguins missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season for the first time in 17 seasons, but they're betting that the longtime core of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang has at least one more Cup run in it. This game against the Dallas Stars at PPG Paints Arena (7:30 p.m. ET; SN-PIT, BSSW) could be a gauge of that premise. The Stars will be the Penguins' first opponent that made the playoffs last season; Dallas was eliminated by the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Final in six games. Pittsburgh has struggled with consistency, but the core has done its part. Malkin has eight points (four goals, four assists) in five games and a four-game goal streak; Crosby has five points (three goals, two assists) in five games and had a four-game point streak end in a 4-2 loss at the St. Louis Blues on Saturday; Letang has four assists in five games. Erik Karlsson, acquired by Pittsburgh in the offseason after he won the Norris Trophy as the top defenseman in the NHL, has four points (one goal, three assists) in five games. -- William Douglas, staff writer

Will the Avalanche keep rolling?

With their start this season, the Colorado Avalanche are reminding everyone why they could contend for the Stanley Cup again. At 5-0-0 the Avalanche, who won the Cup in 2022, have been dominant. I want to see if they keep it going when they play the New York Islanders at UBS Arena (8 p.m. ET; MSGSN, ALT). The Avalanche's scoring has been impressive enough, but it's what they're not allowing that stands out. Teams are averaging 1.60 goals against Colorado, second in the NHL behind the Bruins (1.40 in five games). A big part of that is goalie Alexandar Georgiev, who has started every game and has a 1.58 goals-against average, .943 save percentage and one shutout. -- Tracey Myers, staff writer

Wings look to continue flight against Kraken

The Detroit Red Wings are red hot entering their game against the Seattle Kraken at Little Caesars Arena (8:15 p.m. ET; ROOT-NW, BSDET). They've won five straight, and at 5-1-0 they're off to their best six-game start since they had the same record in 2011-12. Alex DeBrincat, their big offseason acquisition, leads the NHL in goals (eight) and points (12). Linemate Dylan Larkin is second in the League in points (11) and tied for first in assists (eight) with Vancouver Canucks center Elias Pettersson. Fourteen skaters have scored at least one goal and 19 have at least one point. Detroit is first in the NHL in goals (30), first in 5-on-5 goals (20) and second in power-play percentage (39.1 percent). That's huge for a team that finished 24th in goals (237) in 2022-23 and missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the seventh straight season. -- Nicholas J. Cotsonika, columnist

Bedard mania continues against Bruins

The hype again will surround Bedard, and why not? The Blackhawks rookie forward, who has four points (two goals, two assists) in six games, is the real deal and honestly, he can't be showcased enough on national television like he will be again when Chicago hosts the Boston Bruins at United Center (8:30 p.m. ET; ESPN+, ESPN, TVAS), the second game of ESPN's tripleheader. But let's pause the Bedard talk for a moment and focus on the Bruins, because they're on a five-game winning streak to start the season after a 3-1 victory against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center on Sunday. The last perfect team in the Eastern Conference has not missed a beat so far despite the absence of retired centers Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci. David Pastrnak (eight points) and Brad Marchand (seven points) are leading the charge, as expected. -- Dan Rosen, senior writer