McMAHON STADIUM IN CALGARY IS PREPARING FOR THE 2011 HERITAGE CLASSIC. 41,000+ WILL BE ON HAND FOR THE NHL'S SPOTLIGHT GAME OF THE WEEK - CAPPING A GREAT WEEK OF NATIONALLY TELEVISED GAMES.
TUESDAY: Sabres @ Canadiens - 7:30PM - VERSUS: Buffalo has played themselves back in to striking distance of a playoff spot, but still have some work to do. Montreal snapped a three game losing streak by shutting out the Leafs on Saturday night. The Sabres finally beat Montreal in their fourth try this season in overtime at home just a couple of weeks ago. This and the last game in the season series are at the Bell Centre. The Sabres four game winning streak was snapped against the Islanders on Sunday night. A Canadiens win puts them in 3rd place in the East.
WEDNESDAY: Wild @ Blackhawks - 8PM - VERSUS: Minnesota has won three in a row to vault themselves in to 8th place in the West at the time of this posting. The Wild have won 9 of their past 11 and host Vancouver tonight. The Hawks have depth issues and are currently in 11th place in the conference but are only 3 points behind Minnesota. Chicago has lost four of their past five with the past two coming in the shootout. This is their 3rd meeting and each has won in the other's building.
THURSDAY: Kings @ Rangers - 7PM - NHL NETWORK: The Kings are on quite the hot streak, winning 7 of their past 9 with both losses coming in the shootout. Los Angeles is in the midst of a season-long 10 game road trip and play in Columbus the night before this game. The Rangers snapped a six game losing streak on Sunday at home against the Penguins and won for the first time in the month of February. The Blueshirts are in 7th place in the East but only four points out of 9th. The Kings are tied for 8th place in the West but would be left on the outside looking in in the playoffs started as of this writing. This is their first and only meeting of the season.
FRIDAY: Flyers @ Hurricanes - 8PM - NHL NETWORK: This is a playoff match-up preview in all likelihood. They just played each other this past Thursday night, but it was the Flyers 3rd win in three tries against Carolina this season. This is their last meeting of the regular season. Carolina snapped a three game losing streak at Atlanta yesterday and have a tough road game against the red-hot Devils on Wednesday. This will be the 3rd game of a four game road trip for the Flyers, who won four or five before leaving Philly.
SATURDAY: Senators @ Maple Leafs - 7PM - NHL NETWORK: This is a match -up of two awful teams this year. It will be interesting if either team makes any deals this week, as both are clearly in sell mode. Both made trades last week: Ottawa dealing C Mike Fisher to Nashville, Toronto dealing D Francois Beacuhemin to Anaheim. They have split the first four meetings and this will be the last game in Toronto this season.
SUNDAY: Penguins @ Blackhawks-3:30PM-NBC/Canadiens @ Flames-6PM- VS: The NHL is dubbing Sunday "Hockey Day in America" (Canada's was this past Saturday). They gave two great match-ups to build it around. Even if the Penguins are banged up, they play tough. The Hawks have had some tough sledding as of late, so this will be a good time to try and build some confidence. Calgary is hosting Canada's version of the Outdoor Classic in the "Heritage Classic" at McMahon Stadium. The first time Heritage Classic was in 2003 when Montreal traveled to Edmonton. Calgary was one of the hottest teams in the league coming in to February, but has cooled off as the month has gone on. Montreal won 5-4 in overtime at the Bell Centre in their only other match-up of the season. NBC Is really starting to use Versus properly as a hockey outlet.
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