Welcome to the NHL On Tap, a daily look at the games on the NHL schedule. There are four games on the schedule for Friday, including one televised nationally in the United States and two in Canada:
Games of the day
Vegas Golden Knights at Dallas Stars (7:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN360)
The Pacific Division-leading Golden Knights (30-14-4) will attempt to ride the hot streak of Tomas Hertl when they meet the Stars (29-17-1) for the first of two games in five days between the Western Conference rivals. The forward has scored five times in the past four games and will attempt to extend his goal-scoring streak to five in the matchup at American Airlines Center. Hertl scored his 17th goal of the season during a 4-2 win at the St. Louis Blues on Thursday and has 11 points (six goals, five assists) during a seven-game point streak for Vegas, which ended an 0-3-1 skid Thursday. Golden Knights forward Victor Olofsson has 14 points (seven goals, seven assists) during a 10-game road point streak, the longest such run in Vegas history, dating to Dec. 4 following his return from a lower-body injury. Expect a tight game when these two teams get together; each of the last eight games between them, including their seven-game Western Conference First Round series last spring, have been decided by one goal or multiple goals following an empty-net goal. Stars forward Wyatt Johnston has seven points (one goal, six assists) during a five-game point streak and will attempt to tie his NHL career high points streak of six games.
Tampa Bay Lightning at Chicago Blackhawks (8 p.m. ET: FDSNSUN, CHSN, SN, TVAS)
Tampa Bay forward Nikita Kucherov will attempt to extend his season-high points streak to 11 games when the Lightning (25-18-3) meet the Blackhawks (15-28-4) at United Center. Kucherov has 16 points (five goals, 11 assists) in his past 10 games and is third in the NHL with 70 points (22 goals, 48 assists) in 44 games, trailing only Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon (75 points) and Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl (74). The statistics suggest this matchup definitely is in Kucherov’s favor to prolong his run; Tampa Bay ranks first in the NHL in goals per games played (3.61) and goes up against a Blackhawks team that is 29th in goals against per game (3.43). The Lightning also will try to end their 2025 road funk in which they’ve gone 1-6-1 away from Amalie Arena. Chicago once again will be without veteran forward Craig Smith, who has not played since Jan. 8 because of a back injury. Chicago is 7-12-2 since Anders Sorensen took over as interim coach Dec. 5 but will try to extend their point streak to four games (1-0-2).
