NHL On Tap: Josi can reach pair of milestones, Predators visit Senators

Welcome to the NHL On Tap. Three NHL.com writers will share what they are most looking forward to on the schedule each day. Today, their choices from the four games Monday.

Josi eyes pair of milestones, Predators visit Senators

Roman Josi will be looking for two milestones when the Nashville Predators (18-14-6) play the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre (7:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, SN1, RDS2, BSSO, SN NOW). With one goal, Nashville's captain (nine goals, 22 assists this season) will reach 150 in the NHL and 10 goals in a season for the ninth time. Brent Burns (11) of the Carolina Hurricanes is the only active defenseman with more 10-goal seasons, and Burns (232), Erik Karlsson (166) of the San Jose Sharks and Mark Giordano (152) of the Toronto Maple Leafs are the only active defensemen with more than Josi's 149. For Ottawa (18-18-3), forward
Tim Stutzle
has 12 points (eight goals, four assists) during a seven-game point streak and became the first Senators player to score 50 goals at age 20 or younger. Teammate Brady Tkachuk is the closest, scoring 43 goals before he turned 21. -- Shawn P. Roarke, senior director of editorial

Kings contending the unconventional way

I'm not surprised that the Los Angeles Kings (23-14-6) are Stanley Cup Playoff contenders. I am surprised at how they've ascended to second in the Pacific Division, four points behind the Vegas Golden Knights and with a chance to create more separation from the fifth-place Edmonton Oilers at Crypto.com Arena (10:30 p.m. ET; BSW, SNW, ESPN+, SN NOW). Kevin Fiala, acquired by the Kings in a trade with the Minnesota Wild on June 29 and signed to a seven-year contract the next day, leads Los Angeles with 42 points (13 goals, 29 assists) and will play for the Pacific Division at the 2023 Honda NHL All-Star Game -- and skates on the third line with Blake Lizotte and Gabriel Vilardi. Speaking of Vilardi, he leads the Kings with 16 goals, already an NHL career high that's surpassed the 10 he scored in 54 games in 2020-21. Then there's the amazing story of goalie Pheonix Copley, a 31-year-old journeyman with 10 wins in 12 starts this season (2.52 goals-against average, .904 save percentage) that's usurped Jonathan Quick as the No. 1 goalie and kept
Cal Petersen
in the American Hockey League. While the Kings are getting it done unconventionally, the Oilers (21-17-3) are doing it the hard way despite the presence of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, the top two scorers in the NHL. Edmonton is seven points out of second, treading water in the wild-card race, and lost 3-1 to Los Angeles at Rogers Place on Nov. 16. -- Jon Lane, staff writer

Kraken look to keep it rolling in Montreal

It's been a very good start to 2023 for the Seattle Kraken (22-12-4). How good so far for the second-year team from the Pacific Northwest? Try four straight wins with 22 goals scored and eight against. It started on New Year's Day with a 4-1 victory at home against the New York Islanders. Two nights later, the Kraken won 5-2 at the Edmonton Oilers. Then they headed east in Canada, where they now are getting ready to play the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre (7:30 p.m. ET; SN, RDS, ROOT-NW, ESPN+, SN NOW), and have wins against the Maple Leafs (5-1) and Senators (8-4) already in their luggage. They have three games remaining on this season-long seven-game road trip, but they've already become must-watch TV for us here on the East Coast. The Kraken's strong start to January comes after a forgettable December when they were 4-7-1. They're looking more like the team that went 10-1-1 in November. The best part is the scoring has been spread through the lineup, with 14 players accounting for the 22 goals. Forwards Matty Beniers and Jared McCann lead Seattle with three goals each in the past four games. Nobody has more than defenseman Vince Dunn's seven points and 17 players have at least one point. Martin Jones has started all four games and has a 2.00 GAA and .921 save percentage. It's been going exactly the opposite way for the Canadiens (16-21-3), who had lost seven straight games (0-6-1) before a 5-4 win against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday. -- Dan Rosen, senior writer

Monday games

Philadelphia Flyers at Buffalo Sabres (7 p.m. ET; MSG-B, NBCSP, ESPN+, SN NOW)
The Flyers (15-18-7) had their season-high four-game winning streak ended at home with a 6-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday. It was their longest run since Jan. 26-31, 2021. The Sabres (20-15-2) are 8-2-0 in their past 10 games and four points behind the Islanders for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference with four games in hand.
Nashville Predators at Ottawa Senators (7:30 p.m. ET; NHLN SN1, RDS2, BSSO, SN NOW)
The Predators have at least one point in each of their past five road games (4-0-1), dating to Dec. 21. Drake Batherson leads the Senators in scoring since Dec. 9 with 16 points (seven goals, nine assists) in 13 games, one more than Alex DeBrincat. Batherson has 37 points (13 goals, 24 assists) in 39 games this season.
Seattle Kraken at Montreal Canadiens (7:30 p.m. ET; SN, RDS, ROOT-NW, ESPN+, SN NOW)
Joel Armia's two goals helped the Canadiens come back to defeat the Blues on Saturday, just their second win in 12 games (2-9-1). Beniers has goals in three straight games for the Kraken and leads NHL rookies with 14 this season.
Edmonton Oilers at Los Angeles Kings (10:30 p.m. ET; BSW, SNW, ESPN+, SN NOW)
The Oilers begin a four-game road trip after a 1-2-1 homestand. Forward Zach Hyman has scored five goals in his past five games. Fiala celebrated becoming an All-Star on Saturday with his first multigoal game for Los Angeles and the first hat trick by a Kings player this season.