The Box Seats: Edition Fourteen
NHL Preview for the Week of January 8th-14th, 2024
THE BOX SEATS
Edition Fourteen, for the Week of January 8th – 14th 2024.
- Hello, and welcome to “The Box Seats,” a column designed to keep Pro Hockey fans informed, educated, and entertained with the news and notes from around the National Hockey League. So kick back and read along every week during the National Hockey League season.
The National Hockey League heads into its second week of the new calendar year, and a few notable names will be out of action this week with NHL injuries. None more significant than Chicago Blackhawks rookie Connor Bedard, who suffered a fractured jaw on Friday night in New Jersey after a clean shoulder hit by Devils defenseman Brendan Smith.
His timeline remains officially unclear as of press time, but the average recovery for a jaw fracture to heal without surgery is between four to six weeks. Also injured in that same contest was Blackhawks forward Nick Foligno, who broke his finger in a fight, and Devils star Jack Hughes, who suffered an upper-body injury. Foligno is out indefinitely, while Hughes is day-to-day.
Dallas star blueliner Miro Heiskanen also suffered an injury over the week, and he will miss at least a month due to a lower-body issue that, thankfully, will not require surgery.
This week features some solid matchups throughout the schedule, some of which we will cover in the National Television Schedule, and on Saturday, for just the second time in NHL History, we will have a day where all 32 clubs are in action on a sixteen-game card. But first, let’s open this NHL Game Recap in review with a player to watch out for this week.
PLAYER TO WATCH THIS WEEK
Gustav Nyquist – Forward, Nashville Predators
The 11-year veteran has been finding the fountain of youth in the Music City, scoring four goals and five assists over his last five games. The 34-year-old Swedish native has ten goals on the season and 32 points in 40 games played.
He’s scored double-digits in goals in each season dating back to 2013-14 when he broke through with the Detroit Red Wings. His Nashville Predators have been hanging tough in the Wild Card race in the Western Conference, and the Preds battle Anaheim, Dallas, and the New York Islanders this week.
Team Trends To Watch For
- There isn’t a hotter team in the NHL’s Western Conference right now than the Edmonton Oilers. Winners of seven straight games and 14-3 in their last 17 games overall dating back to November 24th, the Oilers, with interim coach Kris Knoblauch, are right back in the Wild Card race in the Western Conference and knocking back on the door in the highly contest Pacific Division race. Edmonton takes on Chicago, Detroit, and Montreal this week on a three-game road trip starting on Tuesday evening.
- The Dallas Stars continue their scorching-hot run with the First Period Over with a 17-3 mark in their last twenty games. The Stars take on Minnesota in a home-and-home series starting Monday in Saint Paul and ending Wednesday in Dallas before battling the Nashville Predators on Friday and traveling to Chicago on Sunday.
- Over half the league, precisely 16 NHL teams, have 10 or more games to go past regulation. Eight of those sixteen clubs have gone into overtime or a shootout in over 30% of their total contests.
NATIONAL TELEVISION SCHEDULE FOR THE WEEK
January 8th
Pittsburgh at Philadelphia 
– 7:00p ET on NHL Network
The Keystone State Rivalry is renewed on Monday night as the slumping Penguins take on a Flyers club that has also struggled, losing four of their last five NHL games overall.
January 9th
Edmonton at Chicago 
– 8:30p ET on ESPN+/Hulu
The scorching hot Oilers, winners of 16 of their last 18, head out to the West Side of Chicago, where the Hawks continue life with Connor Bedard on the IR, amongst several other key NHL players out of the starting lineup.
January 10th
Minnesota at Dallas 
– 7:30p ET on TNT/MAX
These two Central Division rivals face off in the second leg of a home-and-home series that started on Monday in Saint Paul.
Vegas at Colorado 
– 10:00p ET on TNT/MAX
It’s a battle of Western Conference powers as the Golden Knights head into the Mile High City to wrap up the TNT Doubleheader. The Avalanche have won four of the last six meetings against Vegas.
January 11th
Toronto at NY Islanders 
– 8:00p ET on ESPN
These two clubs played an exciting contest in Elmont back on December 11th, with the Islanders winning a 4-3 overtime decision, and Maple Leafs captain John Tavares captured his 1,000th point.
January 12th
Nashville at Dallas – 8:00p ET on NHL Network
It’s a rapid revenge matchup for the Dallas Stars, who dropped a 4-3 final in Nashville six days prior. The Predators had lost five straight meetings with Dallas before last weekend’s victory.
January 13th
NY Rangers at Washington 
– 1:00p ET on ABC/ESPN+
The National Hockey League returns to ABC on Saturday as the Caps host the Blueshirts in a Matinee contest. The Over has cashed in four of the last five meetings between Washington and New York.
Colorado at Toronto – 7:00p ET on NHL Network
The Avalanche head up north to battle the Maple Leafs on Hockey Night in Canada. Colorado’s last visit to Toronto ended in a 2-1 shootout win last March. Two of the previous three meetings have gone past regulation.
January 14th
Washington at NY Rangers – 1:00p ET on NHL Network
It’s a matinee home-and-home set for the Capitals and Rangers as the second leg of this series takes place in Manhattan to wrap up the NHL Game Recaps
Frozen Fashion: The Hockey Jersey of The Week
Each Week, we will select one NHL team jersey to highlight that specific sweater’s design and history. This week, we look at the other jersey being worn during the Winter Classic matchup over a week ago:
Vegas Golden Knights 2024 Winter Classic Jersey
The Vegas Golden Knights took part in their first Winter Classic game this past New Year’s Day, which is their second-ever outdoor contest (Many NHL fans might remember the 2021 Outdoor fiasco in Lake Tahoe, where it took 10 hours to complete a contest between Vegas and Colorado due to sunspots on the rink) and for this contest came a special jersey.
The Golden Knights drew upon the Wild West elements from the Nevada area, specifically around design motifs from the 1910s. The piping details in the center crest and the numbers are inspired by uniforms of the United States Military Academy at West Point, which is the alma mater of Vegas Golden Knights owner Bill Foley.
On the collar of the jersey, there are seven stars to represent the Golden Knights’ seventh NHL season as a franchise, and the light tan and gold colors reflect some of the decor from the famous hotels in Las Vegas, including the Mirage, Caesars Palace and the Golden Nugget.
National Hockey League Trivia Question
Last Week: Which Five Teams became the first NHL clubs to release Alternate Jerseys when the league unveiled the “Third Jersey Program” in the 1995-96 Regular Season?
Answer: Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, Boston Bruins Pittsburgh Penguins, Los Angeles Kings, and the Vancouver Canucks became the first five clubs in the NHL’s “Third Jersey Program” in 1995, paving the way for many teams to unveil new, updated uniform designs, several of which would later come to replace the regular jerseys, in the case of the Penguins, for example.
Q: Which two NHL teams joined the league in the Year 2000?
Come Back Next Week to find out The Answer!
Check out all the updated National Hockey League, NHL Odds, NHL standings, NHL Picks and Parlays, Hockey Odds, schedules, lineups, futures odds, team stats, recent news, and betting tips right here at Point Spreads.
