Welcome to the NHL On Tap, a daily look at the games on the NHL schedule. There are three games on the schedule for Monday, including one televised nationally in the United States and Canada.
Games of the day
Florida Panthers at Edmonton Oilers (8:30 p.m. ET; TVAS, Prime, NHLN, SCRIPPS)
There will be no shortage of emotions when the Panthers and Oilers meet for the first time since Florida defeated Edmonton in seven games in the best-of-7 Stanley Cup Final in June. The Oilers became the third team to force a Game 7 facing a 3-0 deficit in the Final, only to come up short in a 2-1 loss in the deciding game. History is on the side of the Panthers -- the Stanley Cup champion owns an all-time record of 53-34-6 in its first game against the Final opponent the following season. Florida (18-11-2) owns a nine-game point streak at Rogers Place in Edmonton during the regular season dating to Jan. 11, 2015 (6-0-3), the longest active road run against the Oilers by any opponent. Edmonton (18-10-2) has won five in a row and eight of its past 10 games. Forward Leon Draisaitl has produced multipoint outings in each game during the winning streak (13 points; five goals, eight assists). It will be the 100th NHL game for Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch (64-28-7).
Washington Capitals at Dallas Stars (8 p.m. ET; Victory+, MNMT, TVAS-D)
The Capitals, one of the more pleasant surprises in the first half of the season, have won four straight and are 8-1-1 in their past 10. They enter American Airlines Center 12-2-0 on the road, tied with the Minnesota Wild (12-2-3) for the most road wins in the League. Washington (21-6-2) received an encouraging boost when forward Alex Ovechkin, wearing a noncontact jersey, skated with the team Saturday for the first time since breaking his left fibula against the Utah Hockey Club on Nov. 18 and appears to be on pace to meet the original prognosis of a return date of 4-6 weeks. The Capitals have not missed a beat in his absence and own the League’s top goal differential of plus-38. Forward Dylan Strome is Washington’s leading scorer with 37 points (10 goals, 27 assists) in 29 games, including a three-game point streak (two goals, one assist). Dallas (18-11-0) has lost just three of 15 home games this season (12-3-0). The Stars are hoping forward Jason Robertson (seven goals, 12 assists in 29 games) is showing signs of breaking out of his goal-scoring funk; the 25-year-old has two in his past three games after having one in the previous 18.
Colorado Avalanche at Vancouver Canucks (10:30 p.m. ET; SNP, ALT)
The Avalanche, who are 10-6-0 on the road, face a Canucks team that is 5-7-4 at home. Vancouver president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford expressed concern about his team’s struggles at Rogers Arena during a postgame interview on "Hockey Night in Canada" after a 5-1 loss to the Boston Bruins on Saturday, saying, “You can’t be a playoff team with the record we have at home.” With the Canucks (15-9-5) looking for answers, coach Rick Tocchet shuffled lines at practice Sunday, the most significant move being Conor Garland bumped up to the top line with J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser. However they line up, the Canucks will need to be prepared right from the opening face-off against Colorado (18-14-0), which has won five of its past seven games. The recent surge has been spearheaded by center Nathan MacKinnon, the NHL’s leading scorer with 50 points (13 goals, 37 assists), including 14 (six goals, eight assists) in those seven games.
