Hurricanes-Wild, Avalanche-Stars highlight weekend schedule

Each Friday, NHL Network and ESPN analyst Kevin Weekes will provide readers with games he is looking forward to that weekend:

Carolina Hurricanes at Minnesota Wild (Saturday; 8 p.m. ET; BSN, BSSO, ESPN+, NHL LIVE)

Frederik Andersen (25-6-1, 2.01 goals against average, .930 save percentage, two shutouts in 32 games) is in the Vezina Trophy race, and Tony DeAngelo was a great value signing for the Hurricanes when they got him on a one-year contract July 28 after they lost defenseman Dougie Hamilton in free agency. DeAngelo leads Carolina defenseman with 36 points (eight goals, 28 assists) and a plus-15 rating in 38 games. Center Sebastian Aho (48 points; 21 goals, 27 assists) and forwards Andrei Svechnikov (42 points; 18 goals, 24 assists) and Teuvo Teravainen (35 points; 11 goals, 24 assists) lead a very deep offensive team.
Kirill Kaprizov has been incredible with 53 points (19 goals, 34 assists) in 41 games, and the forward has been off to one of the best starts in Wild history, having become the fifth active NHL player to reach 100 points in 92 games or fewer. He has good company on that list: Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin (77 games), Pittsburgh Penguins centers Sidney Crosby (80) and Evgeni Malkin (89) and Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid (92). Goalies Cam Talbot (18-8-1, 2.81 GAA, .913 save percentage) and Kaapo Kahkonen (15-10-3, 2.44 GAA, .924 save percentage) each is having a good season, though Talbot has gotten more starts (27-17) and was selected to play in the 2022 Honda NHL All-Star game. Minnesota is a hard team to play against and is very physical. Forward Mats Zuccarello has been more than a point per game player (42 points in 36 games), and forwards Kevin Fiala (34 points; 13 goals, 21 assists) and Ryan Hartman (33 points; 18 goals, 15 assists, plus-32 rating) each is having a strong season.

Colorado Avalanche at Dallas Stars (Sunday; 2 p.m. ET; BSSW+, ALT, ESPN+, NHL LIVE)

The Avalanche are coming off a 3-2 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday and could get center Nathan MacKinnon (concussion, facial fracture) back in the lineup after he missed five games. Forward Mikko Rantanen (55 points; 24 goals, 31 assists) is having a great season, but to me Nazem Kadri is their best player. The center is among the NHL leaders in points with 61 (19 goals, 42 assists) in 42 games. Darcy Kuemper (22-5-2, 2.54 GAA, .916 save percentage, one shutout) has found his game in net but we haven't said enough about Pavel Francouz, coming back from two hip surgeries and performing as well as he has (7-1-0, 2.29 GAA, .927 save percentage, two shutouts).
Dallas is 16-6-1 at home this season and is coming off a 4-3 win against the Nashville Predators on Wednesday. The Stars also defeated the Boston Bruins 6-1 on Jan. 30, so they have fared well against some of the top teams in the NHL. The top line of Joe Pavelski (48 points; 19 goals, 29 assists), Jason Robertson (43 points; 19 goals, 24 assists) and Roope Hintz (39 points; 21 goals, 18 assists) has accounted for 45 percent of their goals (59 of 131). For the most part the goaltending, with Jake Oettinger (12-5-0, 2.56 GAA, .910 save percentage) and Braden Holtby (9-9-1, 2.76 GAA, .913 save percentage) has been good. This will be another big test.