The young Toronto Maple Leafs have made progress over the first quarter of the season and hope to continue to gain confidence when they host the Washington Capitals on Saturday. The Maple Leafs went 6-2-0 to start the month before losing their last three contests, including a 5-4 shootout setback against New Jersey on Wednesday.

The Ottawa Senators are emerging from a lengthy offensive slumber - relatively speaking - as they prepare to go for their third straight victory when the Carolina Hurricanes pay a visit on Saturday night. The Senators went a dozen games without scoring more than two goals before back-to-back victories over Montreal (4-3) and Boston (3-1).

The Montreal Canadiens began the season with 14 of their first 21 games at home and have taken full advantage with a dazzling 12-1-1 record at Bell Centre. The Canadiens will try to show they are the same team on the road when they start a difficult five-game trip with an Atlantic Division clash against the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday.

The Florida Panthers have much higher standards after winning the Atlantic Division last season in surprising fashion, and 11 victories in the first 20 games of 2016-17 is not the start they expected despite some key injuries. The Panthers will try to begin changing their fortunes when they host the improving Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.

The New Jersey Devils attempt to avoid a fourth consecutive road loss when they visit the Metropolitan Division-rival Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday. New Jersey had won three straight away from home before coming up empty in California, scoring a total of four goals in setbacks against Anaheim, Los Angeles and San Jose.

The Minnesota Wild attempt to extend a pair of winning streaks Saturday as they kick off their five-game road trip against the Central Division-rival St. Louis Blues. Minnesota is making a quick turnaround after rolling to a 6-2 home victory over Pittsburgh on Friday, a triumph that gave it points in three straight games overall (2-0-1).

The Colorado Avalanche look to take advantage of a tired team and even their record at Pepsi Center when they continue their five-game homestand Saturday against the Vancouver Canucks. Colorado fell to 4-5-0 in its own building when it began its stretch at home by allowing four goals in the third period en route to a 6-3 loss to Edmonton on Wednesday.

The Western Conference-leading Chicago Blackhawks conclude their seven-game Circus road trip against the red-hot Los Angeles Kings on Saturday, and hope to have star center Jonathan Toews back in the lineup. Toews left Wednesday's 2-1 loss to San Jose with an upper-body injury and missed Chicago's 3-2 victory over Anaheim on Friday, but Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said his captain is day-to-day and could return Saturday.

The Pacific seems to be a bit stronger these days with Edmonton joining the likes of San Jose, Los Angeles and Anaheim in the division's upper crust, so games such as Saturday's showdown between the host Sharks and Ducks take on greater meaning. San Jose stretched its winning streak to three with a 3-2 victory over the New York Islanders on Friday while Anaheim is going in the wrong direction, losing to Chicago by the same score Friday to run its slide to three games.