Welcome to NHL On Tap, a daily look at the games on the NHL schedule. There is one game on Monday’s schedule, which will be broadcast nationally in the United States and Canada:
Game of the day
Tampa Bay Lightning at Toronto Maple Leafs (7:30 p.m. ET; TVAS, Prime, NHLN, BSSUN)
The Lightning (3-1-0) and Maple Leafs (3-2-0) highlight themselves in the second Prime Monday Night hockey game of the season. Everyone has a day off on the eve of the “NHL Frozen Frenzy” on Tuesday, when all 32 NHL teams will participate. This game features a showdown between Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov and Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews. Kucherov led the NHL with 144 points and tied with the Edmonton Oilers’ Connor McDavid for the league lead with 100 assists last season. Matthews led the NHL with 69 goals last season. Kucherov has gotten off to a strong start this season, leading the league with seven goals in four matches. Matthews has scored in each of the past two games after failing to score in Toronto’s first three. Tampa Bay lost 5-4 to the Ottawa Senators on Saturday, suffering its first defeat this season after winning its first three games. Toronto came away with a 4-1 loss to the New York Rangers on Saturday despite taking 35 shots on goaltender Igor Shesterkin.
