THE NHL IS BACK AND THE REGULAR SEASON DROPS THE PUCK TONIGHT!

We’ll cover some hockey talk, do a Monday Night Football recap, and we’ll see if the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks can squeeze out an underdog playoff sweep tonight and tomorrow.

Let’s get to it.

2023-2024 NHL Season Puck Drop

The NHL season goes live tonight with a tripleheader. Here’s the lineup.

Nashville Predators @ Tampa Bay Lightning, 5:30 pm ET on ESPN

• The Nashville Predators missed the playoffs last year after making it the previous 8 seasons. The Lightning were bounced off the ice in the first round of playoffs last year after playing in the previous 3 Stanley Cup Finals and winning 2 of them. Will it be Filip Forsberg helping the Preds get back to their playoff runs or will Steven Stamkos return the Lightning to another Stanley Cup appearance?

Chicago Blackhawks @ Pittsburgh Penguins, 8 pm ET on ESPN

• Well, well, well.. if it isn’t one generational talent vs the new generational talent. The #1 draft pick of the 2023 draft, Connor Bedard makes his debut as the savior for the Blackhawks. Are the Blackhawks the Green Bay Packers of the NHL? They somehow traded Patrick Kane, released Jonathan Toews, and now get Connor Bedard. For the Penguins, the Crosby era continues on. Although Pittsburgh missed the playoffs for the first time since they missed in Crosby’s rookie season(05-06), the expectations are high for their veteran players like Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang. The Penguins brought on defenseman Erik Karlsson, who scored 101 points last year. Let’s see if Karlsson can shut down Bedard in his rookie debut tonight.

Seattle Kraken @ Vegas Golden Knights, 10:30 pm ET on ESPN

• The Kraken had quite the playoff run last year in their 2nd season as an NHL franchise. It was quite impressive but not as impressive as the Golden Knights’ run through the playoffs that culminated in Vegas hoisting the Stanley Cup. This is going to be a fun one tonight and we’re looking to see if Vegas continues down the path of dominance they displayed during their playoff run last year.

You never know what team you’ll get in a new NHL season, but we’ve got 82 games to figure out who’s real and who’s not.

Monday Night Football

It was only Jordan Love’s 5th game as the starting QB for the Packers and he threw 3 INTs in a loss to the Raiders. We can’t expect him to perfect through 5 games because guess who else wasn’t perfect through 5 games when starting for the Packers

AARON RODGERS!

That’s right, in 2008, Aaron Rodgers threw a decisive pick in the 4th quarter against the Falcons in game 5. And the Packers ended okay.

We’re not saying the Jordan Love is Aaron Rodgers, we’re just saying don’t freak out man. Love’s going to have some rough games.

What stings a little bit isn’t that Love threw 3 interceptions in a close game that was 35-34. It’s the fact the Packers held the Raiders to 17 points, and when your defense does that, you expect to win the game.

Both the Packers and Raiders are 2-3 after the final score Monday was Vegas 17, Green Bay 13.

Jimmy G was 22-31 for 208 yards, 1 TD, and 1 INT. Jimmy is leading the NFL in INTs this season. There, that’s something Giants’ and Pats’ fans can be happy about. Their QBs aren’t the worst at something.

MLB Playoffs

We’re almost midway through the Division Series for playoffs and two teams have 2-0 leads. Let’s do a quick check-in.

By the way, all division series are a best of 5 series, and * indicates if a game is necessary

ALDS

Houston Astros vs Minnesota Twins

Series tied 1-1

• Game 1: Astros 6, Twins 4

• Game 2: Twins 6, Astros 2

• Game 3: Astros at Twins, 4:07 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Oct. 10 (FOX)

• Game 4: Astros at Twins, 2:07 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Oct. 11 (FS1)

• Game 5*: Twins at Astros, 4:07 p.m. ET on Friday, Oct. 13 (FS1)

Baltimore Orioles vs. Texas Rangers

Rangers lead 2-0

• Game 1: Rangers 3, Orioles 2

• Game 2: Rangers 11, Orioles 8

• Game 3: Orioles at Rangers, 8:03 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Oct. 10 (FOX)

• Game 4*: Orioles at Rangers, 7:07 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Oct. 11 (FS1)

• Game 5*: Rangers at Orioles, 8:03 p.m. ET on Friday, Oct. 13 (FS1)

NLDS

Atlanta Braves vs. Philadelphia Phillies

Series tied 1-1

• Game 1: Phillies 3, Braves 0

• Game 2: Braves 5, Phillies 4

• Game 3: Braves at Phillies, 5:07 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Oct. 11 (TBS)

• Game 4: Braves at Phillies, 6:07 p.m. ET on Thursday, Oct. 12 (TBS)

• Game 5*: Phillies at Braves, 6:07 p.m. ET on Saturday, Oct. 14 (TBS)

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Arizona Diamondbacks

Diamondbacks lead 2-0

• Game 1: D-backs 11, Dodgers 2

• Game 2: D-backs 4, Dodgers 2

• Game 3: Dodgers at D-backs, 9:07 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Oct. 11 (TBS)

• Game 4*: Dodgers at D-backs, 9:07 p.m. ET on Thursday, Oct. 12 (TBS)

• Game 5*: D-backs at Dodgers, 9:20 p.m. ET on Saturday, Oct. 14 (TBS)

That’s all for today. We’ll be back tomorrow to do an NFL injury update and discuss the college football rankings.

Have a great day.

-The Daily Breakroom