Weekend watchdog

Drop the puck on the ice hockey season.
Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals open play Thursday against Boston, the first game in Versus' opening night doubleheader. San Jose at Colorado is the nightcap, and there's two more games Friday afternoon - Florida vs. Chicago at noon and Detroit/St. Louis at 3.
ComcastSportsnet has the Capitals home opener Saturday vs. the Maple Leafs.
The start of ice hockey means baseball's regular season is done. So this weekend is your last chance to catch the Nationals (at the Braves on MASN) Orioles (vs. Blue Jays on MASN2).
FOX picked up Saturday's Nationals-Braves game for its coverage, hoping Atlanta stays in the wild-card race - not very likely Thursday afternoon. The Royals at Twins and Phillies hosting the Marlins have also been selected for the time slot.
ESPN will show the White Sox taking on the Central-Division leading Tigers Friday, and TBS has the Dodgers-Rockies on the slate for Sunday.
The most anticipated NFL game of the early season comes Monday night, when Brett Favre and the Vikings host the Packers. NBC has a rematch of the AFC championship, with the Chargers in Pittsburgh Sunday night.
Sunday afternoon's schedule for Fishersville has the Ravens visiting the Patriots for their Weekend in New England. FOX has the doubleheader, with the Buccaneers at Redskins early and Cowboys at Broncos late.
For those who want to watch Virginia en route to its possible 0-12 season, the Cavaliers' game with North Carolina will be the ACC game of the week.
ESPN kicks off the football weekend Thursday when Colorado visits West Virginia. Friday there's Big East action, as Louisville hosts Pittsburgh.
Saturday's play begins with Wisconsin meeting Minnesota at noon, and the primetime game features Auburn at Tennessee. ESPN2 offers Arkansas State at Iowa at noon and Texas A&M vs. Arkansas at night.
ABC's prime time game offers USC at California, scheduled before Oregon slammed the Bears around last Saturday, and Oklahoma at the Miami Hurricanes. In its afternoon slot, ACC country will get Florida State at Boston College. Other areas of the country get Penn State at Illinois or UCLA taking on Stanford.
NBC has Notre Dame hosting Washington, while CBS brings you LSU at Georgia.
MASN jumps into the college football scene with a doubleheader - South Florida at Syracuse at noon, followed by Liberty hosting West Virginia Wesleyan.
Versus starts the day in the Ivy League with Penn at Dartmouth at noon. William & Mary vs. Villanova follows, with Oregon State visiting Arizona State at 6:30 p.m.
ComcastSportsnet has Alabama at Kentucky at noon, followed by New Hampshire facing Towson.
NASCAR makes its lone visit to Kansas Sunday at 1 p.m. on ABC.
The MLS regular season is drawing to a close, and Friday Chicago visits Los Angeles on ESPN2.
The WNBA Finals continue Thursday in Phoenix, with Game 3 set for Indiana Sunday afternoon on ESPN2.