Welcome to the NHL On Tap, a daily look at the games on the NHL schedule. There are six games on the schedule for Friday, one that will be nationally televised in the United States and Canada.
Games of the day
New Jersey Devils at Calgary Flames (9 p.m. ET; TVAS, SN1, SNW, MSGSN2)
Jacob Markstrom will have some momentum when he returns to Calgary on Friday for the first time since being traded to the Devils (7-4-2). The 34-year-old, who was acquired from the Flames for a first-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft and defenseman Kevin Bahl on June 19, is coming off a 20-save shutout in a 6-0 victory against the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday and is 5-3-1 with a 2.68 goals-against average and .903 save percentage in nine games. The goalie spent the previous four seasons with the Flames (5-4-1) and was 105-78-25 with a 2.63 GAA and .907 save percentage in 213 games. Devils forward Nico Hischier is tied with Montreal Canadiens forward Cole Caufield for the NHL lead with 10 goals and will attempt to extend his goal-scoring streak to five games. The Flames are trending in the opposite direction, having lost four straight games after starting the season 5-0-1. Calgary has been outscored 19-6 during that skid.
Florida Panthers at Dallas Stars (2 p.m. ET; Victory+, SCRIPPS, NHLN, SN)
It will be the most special of homecomings for Aleksander Barkov when his Florida Panthers (7-3-1) face off against the Dallas Stars (7-2-0) in the first leg of back-to-back games in the 2024 NHL Global Series Finland presented by Fastenal. Almost three months to the day after the Panthers captain brought the Stanley Cup to Nokia Arena in front of 15,000 people, the 29-year-old now has the opportunity to return to his hometown of Tampere and play a regular-season NHL game in that same rink. After missing eight games because of a lower-body injury, Barkov returned with a goal and an assist in a 5-2 win against the Buffalo Sabres on Monday, the Panthers' third consecutive victory. The game will feature six other Finland-born players, Panthers forwards Anton Lundell (Espoo) and Eetu Luostarinen (Siilinjarvi), and defenseman Niko Mikkola (Kiiminki); and Stars forward Roope Hintz (Nokia), and defensemen Miro Heiskanen (Espoo) and Esa Lindell (Vantaa). With a victory, the Stars would equal their best start in Stars/Minnesota North Stars history with eight wins in their first 10 games, previously accomplished in 2015-16, 2006-07 and 1996-97.
Ottawa Senators at New York Rangers (7 p.m. ET; MSG 2, TSN5, RDS2)
Forwards Claude Giroux (four goals, five assists), Drake Batherson (four goals, five assists) and Tim Stutzle (two goals, six assists) have combined for 26 points (10 goals, 16 assists) in the past five games for the Senators (5-4-0), who are coming off an 8-1 victory against the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday. Stutzle, 22, who led the way against St. Louis with four points (two goals, two assists), needs one goal to reach 97 for his NHL career and become the Senators' all-time leader in goals scored before the age of 23. Giroux has 11 points (five goals, six assists) during a seven-game point streak; he's had two point streaks longer during his 18 NHL seasons, eight games from Feb. 10-24 last season, and nine games during the 2022-23 season. Ottawa's high-powered offense should be a good test for the stingy Rangers (6-2-1), who have allowed 21 goals, tied with the Carolina Hurricanes for the second-fewest in the NHL. The Rangers are tied with the Vegas Golden Knights for the second-best goal differential in the League (plus-16), behind only the Winnipeg Jets (plus-22).
