NHL On Tap: U.S. Olympic hopefuls take ice when Red Wings visit Blue Jackets

There are 10 games on the NHL schedule for Thursday, with two nationally televised in the United States and one in Canada. Thursday also marks the eighth week of "NHL Coast to Coast," a weekly whip-around studio show on Prime Video in Canada giving viewers live look-ins, highlights and analysis of all the games. Here are five things to watch today, along with the complete game schedule.

An American showcase

Four players vying for spots on the team that will represent the United States in the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 will showcase their talents when the Detroit Red Wings (14-11-2) visit the Columbus Blue Jackets (12-9-5) at Nationwide Arena (7:30 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+). Red Wings forward Alex DeBrincat, who had a goal and an assist in a 5-4 win against the Boston Bruins on Tuesday, has an 11-game road point streak against Columbus dating back to Oct. 20, 2018 and can establish the longest such run in NHL history against the Blue Jackets. Detroit captain Dylan Larkin has six points (two goals, four assists) in a five-game point streak and leads the Red Wings with 30 points (14 goals, 16 assists) in 27 games. Detroit forward Patrick Kane (1,359 points; 495 goals, 864 assists) needs 16 points to pass Mike Modano for most NHL points by a U.S.-born player. Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski, who had two assists in a 5-3 win at the New Jersey Devils on Monday, leads Columbus in scoring with 26 points (nine goals, 17 assists) in 26 games.

Kings look to cool off Bedard

The Los Angeles Kings (12-7-7) can extend a 10-game home point streak (7-0-2 from March 2, 2019) against the Chicago Blackhawks (11-9-6) when they welcome Connor Bedard for the first of two games in three days at Crypto.com Arena (10 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+). The 20-year-old center has an eight-game road point streak and can become the third player in NHL history with multiple road point streaks of at least nine games at age 20 or younger. The others are guys named Wayne Gretzky (three times) and Mario Lemieux (twice). Bedard is third in the League in scoring with 38 points (17 goals, 21 assists) in 26 games for Chicago, which is 1-4-2 in its past seven games. The Kings will try to regroup from a 3-1 loss to the Washington Capitals on Tuesday that dropped them to 2-2-3 in their past seven games.

Something Wild

The Minnesota Wild (15-7-5) are enjoying their ride with a 12-game point streak (10-0-2) heading into Scotiabank Saddledome to face the Calgary Flames (9 p.m. ET; SN1, FDSNNOX, FDSNWI). Filip Gustavsson, who is 3-0-2 in his past five games, will start after Jesper Wallstedt earned his NHL-leading fourth shutout with a 1-0 win at the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday. The Flames (9-15-4) are 1-2-1 in their past four games after going 4-1-1 in their previous six.

Be-Leaf system

The Toronto Maple Leafs (12-11-3) have won two straight, three of their past four and scored on their first shot in three consecutive games after a 4-1 win at the Florida Panthers on Tuesday. They’ll try to keep rolling when they visit the Carolina Hurricanes (16-7-2) at Lenovo Center (7 p.m. ET; FDSNSO, TSN4), the last stop of a six-game road trip. Center Auston Matthews has four points (one goal, three assists) in the four games since his return on Nov. 26 from a lower body injury. Carolina has won two straight after a 1-0 overtime victory against the Calgary Flames on Sunday, and Brandon Bussi is showing that Jesper Wallstedt isn’t the NHL’s only hot rookie goalie; after blanking the Flames, Bussi has won five straight starts and is 7-1-0 with a 2.11 goals-against average and .908 save percentage.

Brock’s back

Brock Nelson returns to UBS Arena as a visitor for the first time when the NHL-leading Colorado Avalanche (19-1-6) play at the New York Islanders (14-10-3) and look to extend their 17-game point streak (14-0-3). The center played his first 12 League seasons with the Islanders, with 574 points (295 goals, 279 assists) in 901 games before being traded to the Avalanche on March 6, 2025. He had a goal and an assist in his first game against his former team, a 4-1 win at Ball Arena on Nov. 16. Nelson scored in a 3-1 win against the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday, and center Nathan MacKinnon had two goals for his fourth straight multipoint game (nine points; five goals, four assists) and leads the NHL with 46 points (22 goals, 24 assists) in 26 games. The Islanders defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 on Tuesday to end a three-game losing streak (0-2-1).

The schedule

St. Louis Blues at Boston Bruins (7 p.m. ET; FDSNMW, NESN)

New York Rangers at Ottawa Senators (7 p.m. ET; RDS, TSN5, MSG)

Pittsburgh Penguins at Tampa Bay Lightning (7 p.m. ET; The Spot, SN-PIT, TVAS)

Nashville Predators at Florda Panthers (7 p.m. ET; FDSNSO, SCRIPPS)

Colorado Avalanche at New York Islanders (7 p.m. ET; MSGSN, KTVD, ALT)

Toronto Maple Leafs at Carolina Hurricanes (7 p.m. ET; FDSNSO, TSN4)

Detroit Red Wings at Columbus Blue Jackets (7:30 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+)

Minnesota Wild at Calgary Flames (9 p.m. ET; SN1, FDSNNOX, FDSNWI)

Seattle Kraken at Edmonton Oilers (9 p.m. ET; TVAS, SNW, KONG, KHN/Prime)

Chicago Blackhawks at Los Angeles Kings (10 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+)