NHL On Tap: Canucks can stretch point streak to 6 games at Sharks

Welcome to 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 12 games Thursday.

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Soaring Canucks visit winless Sharks

The Vancouver Canucks (6-2-1) will look to extend their point streak to six games when they visit the San Jose Sharks (0-8-1) at SAP Center (10:30 p.m. ET; NBCSCA, SNP). Vancouver's five-game run (4-0-1) is its best to start a season since 2019-20 (4-0-2). Canucks captain Quinn Hughes has seven points (three goals, four assists) in his past five games and is the second active NHL defenseman to reach 250 points (252; 29 goals, 223 assists) in under 300 games (292), trailing only Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche (255 points; 68 goals, 187 assists in 246 games). Tomas Hertl (204) is two goals from tying Owen Nolan (206) for fifth in Sharks history. -- Mike G. Morreale, staff writer

Nylander looks to extend season-opening streak

William Nylander will try to up his Toronto Maple Leafs record season-opening point streak to 10 games when they visit the Boston Bruins at TD Garden (7:30 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+, SNO, TVAS). The 27-year-old forward broke the team mark of eight previously held by Frank Mahovlich (1961-62), Lanny McDonald (1976-77) and John Anderson (1982-83) when he assisted on John Tavares' goal in a 4-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday. Nylander has a team-high 13 points (six goals, seven assists), one ahead of Tavares. He'll have his hands full against a smothering defensive system that's helped the Bruins (8-0-1) allow the fewest goals (14) in the NHL but will be without defensemen Charlie McAvoy (suspension), Matt Grzelcyk (upper body, long-term injured reserve) and likely Derek Forbort (undisclosed). One player who should be stoked at facing the Maple Leafs (5-3-1) is Nylander's good friend David Pastrnak, who has 48 points (24 goals, 24 assists) in 38 games against Toronto including the Stanley Cup Playoffs, his most goals (tied with Philadelphia Flyers), assists and points against any NHL team. -- Mike Zeisberger, staff writer

Rangers look to continue roll after sweeping road trip

The New York Rangers are one of the hottest teams in the NHL coming off a 5-0-0 road trip, the first time in their history they won every game of a trip of at least that many games. Remember, this is a team that has been around for almost 100 years. The Carolina Hurricanes have won three in a row since a 3-4-0 start. One team's streak will end when they play at Madison Square Garden (7 p.m. ET; BSSO, MSG). The Rangers (7-2-0) may not have been thought of as a Stanley Cup contender after a seven-game loss to the New Jersey Devils in the Eastern Conference First Round last season but raised some eyebrows after outscoring opponents 17-7 on the trip, which came following a 4-1 clunker against the Nashville Predators at home Oct. 19. The Hurricanes (6-4-0) were one of the trendiest Cup picks but looked nothing like themselves early on by allowing at least three goals in each of their first seven games. They've got forward Andrei Svechnikov back from injury and it should be a playoff-like atmosphere when two of the top teams in the Metropolitan Division face off. -- David Satriano, staff writer

Thursday games

Tampa Bay Lightning at Columbus Blue Jackets (7 p.m. ET; BSSUN, BSCH)

The Lightning (4-2-3) begin a four-game road trip after going 3-0-2 on a five-game homestand. Defenseman Zach Werenski needs one point for the Blue Jackets (3-4-2) to pass forward R.J. Umberger (250) for sixth in team history. The only players with more are Rick Nash (547), Cam Atkinson (402), Boone Jenner (334), Nick Foligno (334) and David Vyborny (317). Jenner, the Blue Jackets captain, can move into sole possession of third.

Florida Panthers at Detroit Red Wings (7 p.m. ET; BSDETZ, BSFL, SNP, SNE)

Forward Sam Bennett will not play for Florida (4-3-1) after sustaining a lower-body injury in the second period of a 3-2 overtime loss at the Bruins on Monday. Defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson is expected to be in the Panthers lineup; he left in the third period of the same game after taking an illegal hit to the head from McAvoy. Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov will play his 672nd NHL game, the most in team history. Defensemen have 33 points in 10 games for the Red Wings (6-3-1), 10 (one goal, nine assists) by Moritz Seider and nine (three goals, six assists) from Shayne Gostisbehere.

Carolina Hurricanes at New York Rangers (7 p.m. ET; BSSO, MSG)

Rangers forward Artemi Panarin has a point in all nine games this season (five goals, 10 assists), including eight on the power play. New York ranks second in the NHL with the man-advantage (34.4 percent) behind the Devils (42.4 percent). Teuvo Teravainen has four goals in his past two games for Carolina, which is tied with the Calgary Flames for 28th in goals-against per game (3.70).

Los Angeles Kings at Ottawa Senators (7 p.m. ET; RDS, TSN5, BSW)

The Kings (5-2-2) bring their perfect 4-0-0 road record to Canadian Tire Centre. They've led for 129 minutes as the visitors this season, second in the NHL behind the Rangers (184:21), who have played three more games away from home. The Senators (4-4-0) will play their first game since general manager Pierre Dorion was relieved of his duties Wednesday and be missing injured defensemen Thomas Chabot (hand) and Erik Brannstrom (concussion). Goalie Joonas Korpisalo will start for Ottawa, his first against Los Angeles since leaving the Kings to sign a five-year, $20 million contract ($4 million average annual value) July 1.

New York Islanders at Washington Capitals (7 p.m. ET; MNMT, MSGSN)

The Islanders (4-2-2) begin a stretch of six of their next nine games on the road. Forward Bo Horvat has scored a power-play goal in each of his past two games after having just one in 30 games for the Islanders last season. The Capitals (4-3-1) will be without forward Nicklas Backstrom, who has stepped away from the team to focus on "health issues" after having major hip surgery in 2022.

Toronto Maple Leafs at Boston Bruins (7:30 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+, SNO, TVAS)

The Maple Leafs have earned seven of a possible eight points (3-0-1) in their past four road games but have lost three straight (0-2-1) against the Bruins, who scored at least three goals in each of their first nine games, tied for their longest such streak to start a season in team history (1992-93, 1970-71). The last team with a longer run was the 1997-98 Red Wings (13 games).

New Jersey Devils at Minnesota Wild (8 p.m. ET; MSGSN2, BSWI, BSN)

Jack Hughes leads the NHL with 18 points (five goals, 13 assists) in eight games for the Devils (5-2-1) and can become the first to reach 20 this season. The center was named the NHL First Star of the Month for October. Matt Boldy is expected to play for the Wild (3-4-2) after the forward missed seven games with an upper body injury.

Dallas Stars at Edmonton Oilers (9 p.m. ET; SNW, BSSW)

The Stars (6-1-1) play the second of a back-to-back set in Alberta after Jake Oettinger made 43 saves a 4-3 win against the Flames, which means Scott Wedgewood could start at Rogers Place. Connor McDavid will play his second consecutive game for Edmonton (2-5-1) after the forward missed the previous two with an upper body injury. Only five teams have fewer goals than the 22 from by the normally high-scoring Oilers.

Montreal Canadiens at Arizona Coyotes (10 p.m. ET; SCRIPPS, TSN2, RDS)

The Canadiens (5-2-2) have at least one point in each of their three road games (1-0-2) including a 3-2 shootout loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday. The Coyotes (4-4-1) are coming off a tough loss of their own, 4-3 in overtime to the host Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday. Arizona rookie forward Logan Cooley scored his first NHL goal.

Nashville Predators at Seattle Kraken (10 p.m. ET; ROOT-NW, BSSO, SNO, SNE)

Nashville (4-5-0) continues a five-game road trip that began with a 5-2 loss at Vancouver on Tuesday. Predators captain Roman Josi has five points (one goal, four assists) in his past five games. Seattle (3-5-2) seeks two straight wins for the first time this season following a 4-3 overtime victory at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday. Kraken forward Matty Beniers is still seeking his first goal of the season after winning the Calder Trophy voted as NHL rookie of the year and tying Stars forward Wyatt Johnston for the lead among first-year players with 24 goals last season.

Winnipeg Jets at Vegas Golden Knights (10 p.m. ET; SCRIPPS, TSN3)

The Golden Knights (9-0-1) seek to extend their season-opening point streak to 11 games, which included a 5-3 win at the Jets on Oct. 19. Vegas forward William Karlsson has nine points (three goals, six assists) during a seven-game point streak. The Jets (4-3-2) have lost two in a row but are 3-0-2 in their previous five games. Winnipeg is 28th on the power play (11.8 percent) and 29th on the penalty kill (71.9 percent).

Vancouver Canucks at San Jose Sharks (10:30 p.m. ET; NBCSCA, SNP)

Vancouver forward Elias Pettersson has six multipoint games this season and can become the second-fastest player in team history with 200 assists in his 334th game. Hughes holds the Canucks record of 263 games. San Jose has scored eight goals in seven games, becoming the 10th NHL team since the introduction of the center red line in 1943-44 to score eight goals or fewer in its first seven games.