NHL Weekender: Caps gain ground, Kings ready to rule?

Yes, the Tampa Bay Lightning remain the team to beat, but they aren't the only squad out east that had a good week. The Washington Capitals registered three straight wins, scoring at least four goals in every tilt. (They all but demolished the Chicago Blackhawks 6-2 on Wednesday.) Ovi and company have an opportunity to gain more ground in the Metropolitan Division this weekend when they host the New York Rangers.

Out in the Western Conference, the LA Kings continue to clobber any team that stands in their way. The Southern California squad has won a whopping seven straight games, and have easy competition in town this weekend as they host a skidding Carolina Hurricanes squad.

...and who's skidding out

The Senators continue to struggle, dropping three straight tilts as their long roadtrip continues. After notching a third period game-winner on December 1 to beat the New York Islanders, Ottawa shut out in back-to-back contests with the Jets and Ducks. Things were looking up when they took a 3-3 tie against the Kings into OT on Thursday, but were stimied and suffered the 4-3 loss. Their Western Conference roadie continues as they visit the San Jose Sharks on Saturday. (More on that game in just a second.)

Speaking of the Western Conference: Nobody is having a rougher week than the Colorado Avalanche. They've lost four straight tilts, going 3-6-1 in their last ten. Heck they even lost to the Buffalo Sabres, who have been the mainstay at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings. It didn't help matters that most of that time was spent without captain Gabriel Landeskog, who was serving a four game suspension after cross-checking Calgary's Matthew Tkachuk in the head. They look to turn things around this weekend when they visit the Florida Panthers on Saturday.

Oh Captain, My Captain

When the team captain is struggling, the rest of the roster tends to follow suit. Such is the case right now for Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers. Edmonton was one of the darlings of last year's playoffs, and a heavy favorite to make an deep playoff run. So far this season, however, they have struggled to win games -- and their fearless leader has been turning the puck over more this season. Sure, he can't be blamed for everything going wrong up in EDM. But when the rest of your team is struggling, you have to find more ways to help your team win. Even if you're the McSavior.

Bumbling Blueliners

About a year ago, Erik Karlsson and Brent Burns were already sparking end-of-year award talks. This season, the two Norris Trophy winners look a lot less like themselves. The Senators' captain took a nine game points drought into Ottawa's roadtrip this week, and finally notched an assist in the Sens' loss at LA. We previously mentioned that teams struggle when their best players don't do well, and there's no better proof of that than with Karlsson and Ottawa.

Burns' scoring woes this season have also been a head-scratcher. The bearded two-way player only has two goals on the season -- not what you would expect from a defending Norris Trophy winner. Granted, he looked like his old self on Thursday night when he notched San Jose's overtime game-winning goal against the Hurricanes on Thursday night. So maybe "The Wookie" is getting back to being is old self again.

What to watch this weekend

Ottawa at San Jose, Saturday, 10 p.m. ET, CSNCAL

Speaking of Burns and Karlsson, they face each other this Saturday when the Sharks host the Senators. And while Team Teal has had their fair share of ups and downs this campaign, they're coming off a raucous 4-3 overtime win over Carolina where they dug themselves out of a 3-0 hole.

Columbus at New Jersey, 7 p.m. ET, FSOH, MSG+

Out east there is a fight for ground in the Metropolitan standings as the young and spunky New Jersey Devils host the Columbus Blue Jackets. As we pointed out earlier this week, CBJ could potentially be picking up their game as the new year comes around. This is the first of these team's three-game season series, but Friday's tilt should give us the best idea of where these two squads stand.