Welcome to the NHL On Tap, a daily look at the games on the NHL schedule. There are 11 games on the schedule for Saturday, including six nationally televised games in Canada and two in the United States:
NHL On Tap: Tavares takes 6-game point streak for Maple Leafs into St. Louis against Blues
Stars, Panthers conclude Global Series; Sharks host Canucks winners of 3 in row
© Kevin Sousa/NHLI via Getty Images
Games of the day
Toronto Maple Leafs at St. Louis Blues (7 p.m. ET; FDSNMW, SNP, SNW, SNO, CBC)
John Tavares can build on his six-game point streak (three goals, six assists) for the Maple Leafs (6-4-1). William Nylander scored twice in Toronto's 4-1 win against the Seattle Kraken on Thursday and has a team-high eight goals in 11 games. It's also a return to St. Louis for Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube, who guided the Blues from Nov. 20, 2018 to Dec. 12, 2023, and to the Stanley Cup for the first time in their history in 2019. The Blues (5-6-0) have lost three in a row while scoring only four goals. Forward Kasperi Kapanen missed a 2-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday with an upper-body injury and is day to day.
Dallas Stars at Florida Panthers (12 p.m. ET; Victory+, SCRIPPS, NHLN, SN1)
It's the second half of the back-to-back set at the 2024 NHL Global Series Finland presented by Fastenal. The Panthers (8-3-1) won 6-4 on Friday, led by center Aleksander Barkov's four points (one goal, three assists) in his hometown of Tampere, Finland. Florida has won four in a row. Mavrik Bourque scored his first NHL goal for the Stars (7-3-0) on Friday, the sixth player to do so outside of North America. Seamus Casey was the most recent for the New Jersey Devils against the Buffalo Sabres in Prague, Czechia, on Oct. 5.
Vancouver Canucks at San Jose Sharks (10 p.m. ET; NBCSCA, CITY, SN, CBC)
Brock Boeser's point streak ended at six games (three goals, four assists) when the Canucks (4-2-3) lost 6-0 to the Devils on Wednesday. Vancouver captain Quinn Hughes is four assists from 300 in the NHL (296 in 374 games) and on pace to surpass Erik Karlsson's record (502) for fewest games by an active defenseman to reach the milestone. The Sharks (3-7-2) have won three in a row. Forward Will Smith, the No. 4 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, scored the first two goals of his NHL career in a 3-2 win against the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday. Defenseman Timothy Liljegren, acquired in a trade with the Maple Leafs on Wednesday, joined the Sharks for practice Friday and is expected to play Saturday.
Other Saturday games
Boston Bruins at Philadelphia Flyers (1 p.m. ET; NBCSP, NESN, SN)
The Bruins (4-6-1) are 1-4-1 in their past six at the end of a two-game road trip against the Flyers. Matvei Michkov was named rookie of the month for October, when the forward had nine points (four goals, five assists) in 11 games for Philadelphia (4-6-1).
Chicago Blackhawks at Los Angeles Kings (4 p.m. ET; FDSNW, CHSN, SN)
It's the fourth of a five-game road trip for the Blackhawks (3-7-1), who are 1-2-0. Chicago forward Ryan Donato has four goals in his past three games. The Kings (6-3-2) are 3-0-0 at Crypto.com Arena. Captain Anze Kopitar got his 800th NHL assist in Los Angeles' 6-3 win against the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday. He's the 35th NHL player and sixth born in Europe to reach the milestone.
Columbus Blue Jackets at Washington Capitals (5 p.m. ET; FDSNOH, MNMT)
It's the second half of a back to back for the Blue Jackets (5-4-1), who lost 6-2 to the Winnipeg Jets on Friday. Dmitri Voronkov was minus-3 in 13:24 of ice time. The forward made his season debut after being out with an upper-body injury since Oct. 4. The Capitals (7-2-0) have won five in a row at home. Alex Ovechkin has scored three goals in his past two games for 858 in the NHL, 37 from passing Wayne Gretzky's NHL record (894). Washington placed defenseman Jakob Chychrun on injured reserve with an upper-body injury and recalled Vincent Iorio from Hershey of the American Hockey League.
Seattle Kraken at Ottawa Senators (7 p.m. ET; SN1, KONG, KHN)
It's the third of a five-game road trip for the Kraken (5-5-1), who are 1-3-1 in their past five. Seattle captain Jordan Eberle has 147 points (70 goals, 77 assists) in 214 games played on "Hockey Night in Canada" since joining the NHL with the Edmonton Oilers for the 2010-11 season. The Senators (5-5-0) play the second of a back to back after losing 2-1 to the New York Rangers on Friday. Ottawa forward Adam Gaudette has five goals in his past five games.
Buffalo Sabres at Detroit Red Wings (7 p.m. ET; FDSNDET, MSG-B)
The Sabres (4-6-1) are on the second of a back to back coming off a 4-3 loss to the New York Islanders on Friday. Tage Thompson had an assist to extend his point streak to an NHL career-high eight games (six goals, six assists). The Red Wings (4-5-1) have lost three in a row (0-2-1), but Vladimir Tarasenko is expected to play after the forward missed a 6-2 loss to the Jets on Wednesday with an illness.
Montreal Canadiens at Pittsburgh Penguins (7 p.m. ET; SN-PIT, NHLN, SNE, CITY, TVAS)
Cole Caufield is on a four-game goal streak for the Canadiens (4-6-1) and his 10 are tied with Devils captain Nico Hischier for the NHL lead. The Penguins (4-7-1) ended a six-game slide (0-5-1) with a 2-1 overtime win against the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday. Captain Sidney Crosby (three goals, nine assists) has multiple points in back-to-back games and had 11 in October, tied for the third most in NHL history behind Gretzky (15) and Joe Sakic (14).
Colorado Avalanche at Nashville Predators (8 p.m. ET; FDSNSO, ALT2)
The Avalanche (5-6-0) have lost two in a row by a combined score of 10-4 after a five-game winning streak. Cale Makar is on an 11-game point streak (four goals, 15 assists). He's the second defenseman in NHL history with a season-opening streak of at least that many (Bobby Orr had a 15-game run in 1973-74). Filip Forsberg leads Nashville (3-6-1) with nine points (five goals, four assists) in 10 games. The Predators are 2-5-0 at home.
Utah Hockey Club at Vegas Golden Knights (10 p.m. ET; Utah 16, SCRIPPS)
Utah (5-4-2) ended a four-game skid (0-3-1) with a 5-1 win against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday. Dylan Guenther and Clayton Keller lead Utah in goals with six each. The Golden Knights' four-game winning streak ended Wednesday. Captain Mark Stone leads Vegas (7-3-1) with 19 points (five goals, 14 assists) in 11 games and is on a five-game point streak (three goals, seven assists).
