Your Week in NHL Hockey, October 16-22: The Season’s in Full Swing

NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 19: Henrik Lundqvist #30 of the New York Rangers looks on during a break in the action against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game Three of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2016 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on April 19, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images)

Wednesday, October 19

Nationally televised in the United States

Detroit Red Wings at New York Rangers (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN; TVA Sports in Canada)

Locally televised in Canada only

Toronto Maple Leafs at Winnipeg Jets (8 p.m. ET; Sportsnet)

Best bet: Red Wings-Rangers

Tonight’s a breather after the massive slate on Tuesday night. There’s only one game in town for Americans looking for another hockey fix, and it’s an Original Six matchup worthy of NBCSN’s Wednesday Night Rivalry.

Detroit dropped its first game to the surging Tampa Bay Lightning, 6-4, so it’ll be looking to score some points and move up in the standings. Coach Jeff Blashill has already started shuffling around some lines to try and get some sparks.

Meanwhile, the Rangers have had some success so far, so they’ll want to keep it up to build an early lead in the Metropolitan Division with the Penguins and Capitals always looming close behind. These points may end up mattering come playoff seeding time, after all.

If you really want to, you can check out the Maple Leafs-Jets game, but you may very well be caught up in the Wednesday Night Rivalry mentioned above. (No offense, Canadian readers.)