The Buffalo Sabres will be without one of their best players on Tuesday at home vs. Los Angeles and Thursday at Colorado in forward Jeff Skinner. He was suspended three games by the NHL Department of Player Safety on Saturday for cross-checking Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jake Guentzel in the face on Friday night. This is Skinner’s second suspension of his 13-year NHL career. He missed Saturday’s rematch vs. the Pens already. The 30-year-old has 13 goals and 19 assists in the season with a plus-9 rating. Here are two intriguing NHL matchups early this week.

Top NHL Betting Picks of the Week (December 12th, 2022)

See who holds the No. 1 spot and where the Sabres land this week. https://t.co/7y1AKPLV71

— The Buffalo News (@TheBuffaloNews) December 11, 2022

Dallas Stars vs. Pittsburgh Penguins

• When: Monday, December 12, 2022, 9:00 PM ET
• Where: PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, PA
• TV: TVAS, ATTSN-PT, BSSWX
• Radio: 98.5 The Sports Hub (Stars) // Altitude Sports Radio 92.5 FM (Penguins)
• Live Stream: NHL Live
• NHL Betting Odds: Stars +15 // Penguins -1.5

This could be a Stanley Cup Finals preview. Is it likely? No but both certainly will be in the playoffs as Pittsburgh is third in the Metropolitan Division with 36 points and Dallas is second in the Central with 37.

The Penguins got a huge boost on Saturday in their fifth straight win, 3-1 over Buffalo. Defenseman and potential future Hall of Famer rather amazingly played just 12 days after suffering the second stroke of his career Nov. 28. Letang skated in 25 shifts covering 22:14 time on the ice and had seven hits, three blocked shots and two minutes in penalties.

“It means the world to our team — we’re a whole different defense corps when he’s in the lineup,” Coach Mike Sullivan said of Letang. “I’m sure I’m stating the obvious when I say that.”

The 35-year-old, who has one goal and 12 points in 22 games, was able to resume practicing last Thursday and said he felt “pretty good.” It was a quicker turnaround than Letang experienced in 2014, when he was sidelined 26 games over nearly two months following the first stroke. Pittsburgh is now on a 13-2-2 run.

Dallas won its second in a row Saturday, 3-2 in OT over Detroit. Nils Lundkvist scored with 31 seconds remaining in overtime. Lundkvist tapped in a pass from Mason Marchment on a 2-on-1 following a turnover by Red Wings forward Dylan Larkin in the neutral zone. Lundkvist has three points (two goals, one assist) in his past three games after being a healthy scratch the previous three.

It’s the first meeting of the season between the teams. Last year, the Stars won both – it was 2-1 in a shootout in Pittsburgh. Joe Pavelski and Alexander Radulov scored in a shootout and Braden Holtby finished with 27 saves. Radulov and Holtby are no longer in the NHL. Pavelski is still a key Dallas player. The Pens were without stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

NHL Betting Pick: Pittsburgh Penguins

Washington Capitals vs. Chicago Blackhawks

• When: Tuesday, December 13, 2022, 10:00 PM ET
• Where: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, NV
• TV: TNT, TVAS, MSGSN
• Radio: WJFK 106.7 FM (Capitals) // KKGK 98.9 FM (Blackhawks)
• Live Stream: NHL Live
• NHL Betting Odds: TBA

ESPN has this telecast. Could it be the one where Caps superstar Alex Ovechkin scores his 800th career goal? Gordie Howe sits second all-time with 801 goals and Wayne Gretzky has the record with 894. Ovechkin has 796 as of this writing and scored an empty-net goal in a 4-1 win against the Seattle Kraken on Friday. The empty-net goal was the 52nd of Ovechkin’s career. Only Gretzky has more (56).

With his 787th goal earlier this year, Ovechkin set the record for most goals scored with the same franchise. With goal No. 793, he passed Gretzky for the most goals scored on the road for a career (403).

Washington will be without No. 1 netminder Darcy Kuemper for a while. He and defenseman Alexander Alexeyev were each placed on injured reserve Sunday with an upper-body injury. Kuemper, who was placed on IR retroactively to when he was injured against the Calgary Flames on Dec. 3, traveled with the Capitals to Winnipeg for Sunday’s game and participated in their morning skate for the first time since he was injured. Charlie Lindgren will hold down the fort while Kuemper is out.

Alexeyev was injured in Friday’s game against Seattle. Kraken defender Jamie Oleksiak was suspended for three games Saturday by the NHL Department of Player Safety for an illegal check to the head on the play. Alexeyev won’t be eligible to return until at least Dec. 17 vs. Toronto. has one assist, three shots on goal, eight blocks and six hits in five games this year.

Fellow blueliner Erik Gustafsson missed Sunday’s game with an upper-body injury, his first missed game of the year. The 30-year-old has 10 assists with a minus-8 rating. Fortunately for Washington, defenseman Dmitry Orlov (lower body) returned Sunday from a 16-game absence.

Hawks goaltender Petr Mrazek (groin) is “feeling good” and is hoping to return to action Tuesday versus the Capitals. He has missed a little over a week with a groin injury. Center Andreas Athanasiou is unlikely to play Tuesday due to a family funeral. Athanasiou has six goals and nine points in 26 games this season.

It’s the first meeting of the season between these clubs.

NHL Betting Pick: Washington Capitals

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READ MORE: Top NHL Betting Picks of the Week – December 19th, 2022