NHL On Tap: Keefe faces Maple Leafs for 1st time as Devils coach

Welcome to NHL On Tap, a daily look at the games on the NHL schedule. There are nine games on the schedule Thursday, two of which will be nationally televised in the United States and Canada. Thursday also marks the first week of "NHL Coast to Coast," a weekly whiparound studio show on Prime Video in Canada.

Related: How to watch and stream NHL games

Games of the day

Toronto Maple Leafs at New Jersey Devils (7 p.m. ET; MSG, TSN4)

What a way to start off 'NHL Coast to Coast' on Prime Video in Canada. New Devils coach Sheldon Keefe will face the Maple Leafs for the first time since they fired him May 9 after five seasons. The Devils are 2-0-0 after sweeping the Buffalo Sabres in the 2024 NHL Global Series Czechia presented by Fastenal at O2 Arena in Prague on Friday and Saturday. Craig Berube looks for his first win as Maple Leafs coach after Toronto lost 1-0 at the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday. It was the first time Toronto was shut out in a regular season or Stanley Cup Playoffs game since Nov. 20, 2021, a 2-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Dallas Stars at Nashville Predators (8 p.m. ET; ESPN+, HULU)

Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault each will make his debut with the Predators. Stamkos signed a four-year, $32 million contract ($8 million average annual value) with Nashville on July 1 after playing his first 16 NHL seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Marchessault, the Conn Smythe Trophy winner in 2023 as the Stanley Cup Playoffs MVP, signed a five-year, $27.5 million contract ($5.5 million AAV) on July 1 after seven seasons with the Vegas Golden Knights. Nashville will face Central Division rival Dallas, which lost forward Joe Pavelski to retirement and traded center Radek Faksa to the St. Louis Blues, but have a formidable core remaining, led by forwards Jason Robertson, Roope Hintz and Wyatt Johnston, and goalie Jake Oettinger.

St. Louis Blues at San Jose Sharks (10:30 p.m. ET; ESPN+, HULU, SN360)

When Macklin Celebrini, the No. 1 pick of the 2024 NHL Draft, takes the ice Thursday, he will become the second youngest player (18 years, 120 days) to make his NHL debut with the San Jose Sharks (Patrick Marleau, 18 years, 16 days, Oct. 1, 1997) and the eighth youngest in NHL history. He's part of a Sharks youth movement that includes Will Smith, a 19-year-old center who was the No. 4 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft; forward William Eklund, 21, the No. 7 pick in the 2021 NHL Draft; and Ryan Warsofsky, who at 36 will make his debut as the youngest active coach in the NHL. The Blues seek their second straight road victory of the season after Jordan Kyrou scored twice to help St. Louis win 3-2 at the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday.

Other games Thursday

Montreal Canadiens at Boston Bruins (7 p.m. ET; NESN, TSN2, RDS)

The Bruins (0-1-0) will play their 100th home opener, hosting the Canadiens for the 17th time, the most appearances as the Bruins' opponent in Boston's first home game of a season. Jeremy Swayman will make his first start of the season after signing an eight-year contract on Sunday. Bruins captain Brad Marchand (401 goals in 1,030 games) is one goal away from tying Rick Middleton (402 goals) for the fourth most in franchise history. Montreal (1-0-0) is coming off a 1-0 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday in which Sam Montembeault made 48 saves and Cole Caufield had a power-play goal.

Los Angeles Kings at Buffalo Sabres (7 p.m. ET; BSW, MSG-B)

The Sabres (0-2-0) play their first game at KeyBank Center after being swept by the Devils in Prague. They'll have to do it without forward Nicolas Aube-Kubel, who is expected to be out 3-6 weeks because of a lower-body injury sustained during the Global Series. The Kings start the season without defenseman Drew Doughty, who is out month to month because of a fractured ankle sustained in a 3-2 preseason win against the Golden Knights on Sept. 25.

Florida Panthers at Ottawa Senators (7 p.m. ET; SCRIPPS, RDS2, TSN5)

The Panthers (1-0-0) play their first road game of the season after they scored four first-period goals in a 6-4 win against the Boston Bruins on Tuesday. The Senators open their season under new coach Travis Green, hired May 7, and a new goalie in Linus Ullmark, who was acquired in a trade with the Bruins on June 24 and signed a four-year, $33 million contract ($8.25 million AAV) with Ottawa on Wednesday that begins next season.

Utah Hockey Club at New York Islanders (7:30 p.m. ET; Utah16, MSGN)

Utah (1-0-0) plays its first road game following a 5-2 win against the Chicago Blackhawks in its inaugural game at Delta Center on Tuesday, becoming the eighth franchise in the NHL expansion era (since 1967-68) to win its inaugural game. Semyon Varlamov is expected to start in goal for the Islanders in their season opener; Ilya Sorokin didn't play in the preseason and missed two weeks of training camp to rehab from offseason surgery.

Pittsburgh Penguins at Detroit Red Wings (8 p.m. ET; BSDET, SN-PIT, SN360)

Evgeni Malkin (498 goals in 1,146 NHL games) needs two goals to become the third player in Penguins history with 500 career goals, following Mario Lemieux (690) and Sidney Crosby (592), and is two assists shy of 800 for his NHL career. The Penguins (0-1-0) lost 6-0 to the New York Rangers in their home opener Wednesday. The Red Wings play their season opener with Patrick Kane entering 16 points shy of 1,300 points for his NHL career.

Columbus Blue Jackets at Minnesota Wild (8 p.m. ET; BSWIX, BSOH, BSN)

The Blue Jackets open the season balancing hockey and dealing with the tragic losses of forward Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, who were killed when they were struck by a car while riding bicycles Aug. 29. Dean Evason is the Blue Jackets new coach after coaching the Wild for five seasons until he was fired in November. Kent Johnson returns from a season-ending shoulder injury sustained Feb. 28 that limited him to 42 games. Minnesota begins its season with three goalies on its roster -- Marc-Andre Fleury, Filip Gustavsson and Jesper Wallstedt, who signed a two-year, $4.4 million contract ($2.2 million AAV) on Monday that begins next season.