From "Hockeytown" to the City of Angels, It's A Hockey Night in America! [NHL Live Thread]

11 games, mixed-up out-of-conference games, and not a single game north of the border even though the Canadian teams are all on the schedule.  Tonight begins with a barrage of games at 7:00, 6 of them as a matter of fact.

The first takes us to Philly, where the Flyers will host one of those out-of-conference games.  They're playing the Canucks.  The Broad Street Bullies have lost 5 of their last 6 games, but Danny Briere should be back tonight.  The Canucks have yet to score one and done for an overtime loss, one of only 2 teams left in the league that still has plain old wins and losses.

Then it's up to Buffalo where the Sabres host a divisional foe as the Habs come to town.  They'll have a tall task as they face Ryan Miller, who has a mind boggling GAA of 1.84!

Still at 7:00, we go to the Joe, where the Wings, who still aren't the dominant force they've been in the past, host the Oilers of Edmonton.  The Wings just snapped a 4-game HOME losing streak, you heard me right, they lost FOUR in a row on home ice!  Brace yourself for this one, did I mention the Wings are currently OUT of the playoff picture at 10th in the Western Conference?!  I know it's still early in the season, but that's crazy to think.

Then we head down to Atlanta where the Thrashers play host to the 10-win Islanders.  That's right, a far cry from last year, the Isles have shown tremendous improvement.  They're no cakewalk for teams this year like they've been the last couple.

It's still 7:00 and we're headed back north to Columbus, where the Blue Jackets host the Leafs who are playing against the Jackets for the one and only time this year.  I don't think Columbus will have much trouble with this one.

We finally hit the end of the 7:00 games in our Nation's Capital, where the Caps host a division foe, the Panthers.  Ovechkin is in the corner with his dunce cap, and Scott Clemmensen could get the start in place of the dinged up Vokoun.  Don't let that fool you though, let's not forget how well he filled in for Marty Brodeur last year.

Then we head to Mellon Arena for the lone 7:30 game of the night, where the Pens will try to become the first team to reach 20 wins this season.  They'll have a tough task doing it though against the Avs, who are making their first trip to Pittsburgh since 2005.  After starting off with a bang, the Avs haven't kept up the pace so well with the Pens and Sharks, and are 3-4-3 in their last 10.  The Pens are the other team along with the Canucks without an overtime loss.


Then we skip an hour and begin our trek westward for the rest of the evening, first stopping in Dallas where the Stars will host the Ducks, who have lost their last 6 on the road.  This could get ugly, especially if when the Ducks start shooting themselves in the foot with dumb penalties.  After that it's off to the desert where we find the Coyotes at home against the Flames, 2 teams who both are continuing to play well.  Phoenix has 15 wins already, who the heck saw that coming after the escapade over the summer?!  They have a tall task tonight though as they host the division-leading Flames.

The finale is out in California.  First, we have a battle at the Shark Tank.  St Louis isn't terrible, but they're not the Blackhawks, and I don't expect them to score 7 goals against the Sharks IN San Jose.  That said, they (the Sharks) are also sitting on 19 wins.  If the Pens don't beat the Avs, I'd think it safe to say the Sharks will be the first 20-win team this season.  At the same time it's a trip down the coast to LA where the Kings host the Senators.  The Sens have been beaten like red-headed stepchildren by the Kings for a long time.  In fact, in all the times they've played the Kings in LA, they've won a grand total of once.  They also tied once, but the Kings overall are 7-1-1 in their last 9 meetings with the Sens.  With that in mind, here's tonight's full lineup:

7:00 PM ET:
Vancouver Canucks @ Philadelphia Flyers
Montreal Canadiens @ Buffalo Sabres
Edmonton Oilers @ Detroit Red Wings
New York Islanders @ Atlanta Thrashers
Toronto Maple Leafs @ Columbus Blue Jackets
Florida Panthers @ Washington Capitals

7:30 PM ET:
Colorado Avalanche @ Pittsburgh Penguins

8:30 PM ET:
Anaheim Ducks @ Dallas Stars

9:30 PM ET:
Calgary Flames @ Phoenix Coyotes

10:30 PM ET:
St. Louis Blues @ San Jose Sharks
Ottawa Senators @ Los Angeles Kings

As always, tune in here.  This is your place to come and talk (or vent) about the game(s) you're watching tonight!