Around the NHL
No Unbeaten Teams
There are no longer any unbeaten teams, with the final 3 standing dropping decisions on Thursday and Friday. The Colorado Avalanche dropped a 4-0 decision to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday. It snapped a record regular season road win streak of 15 games for the Avs dating back to last March.
It was the scrappy underdogs handing the other two remaining undefeated teams their first losses. The Anaheim Ducks defeated the Boston Bruins 4-3 in overtime on Thursday, while the Chicago Blackhawks felled the Vegas Golden Knights by the same score on Friday.
Looking for Win #1
While there are no undefeated teams left, there is one team still searching for their first win. The San Jose Sharks are off to an 0-7-1 start and have a -24 goal differential through 8 games. They’ve faced a gauntlet of contending teams to start the season. Their opponents so far have been Vegas, Colorado, Boston, Carolina (x2), Nashville, Florida and Tampa Bay. They aren’t likely to pull up from the depths of the Pacific Division, but their schedule will get easier.
Heritage Classic
The Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers will face off in the first outdoor game of the season on Sunday, Oct 29. The tilt should be a feisty one with both teams are off to horrid starts and searching for answers. The Battle of Alberta may provide a turning point for at least one club. They can’t both lose, right?
Key Injuries
Brett Pesce (CAR) – Pesce is out with a lower body injury and is expected to be out for longer than week-to-week. He’ll be missed in the Hurricanes lineup, but strong depth on the blueline should help mitigate the loss.
Thomas Chabot (OTT) – The Senators placed Chabot on LTIR with a broken hand. It’s a big loss for a club that is also currently without Erik Brannstrom and Artem Zub.
Andrei Burakovsky (SEA) – Burakovsky is expected to miss 6-8 weeks with an upper body injury. Generating offense is not the Kraken’s strong suit and losing Burakovsky will make it that much more of a challenge.
Who’s Hot
Alex DeBrincat (DET) – DeBrincat has 9 goals in 9 games to start the season, 6 of them coming at 5v5. He leads the league in 5v5 G/60 among skaters with at least 100 5v5 minutes.
Mikey Anderson (LAK) – Anderson is 2nd in 5v5 P/60 among defenseman with at least 100 5v5 minutes with eight games played.
Thatcher Demko (VAN) – Demko leads the league in 5v5 GSAx/60 (minimum 200 5v5 minutes) and boasts a 5v5 HDSV% of 1.000.
Who’s Not
Chandler Stephenson (VGK) – While the Golden Knights are off to a blazing start, Stephenson is not. He has 1 goal and 1 assist at 5v5 through 9 games and has a 5v5 xGF% of 35.71%, 3rd worst among forwards with at least 100 5v5 minutes.
Vince Dunn (SEA) – After a breakout season last year, Dunn is off to a slow start. At 5v5, he has an xGF% of 41.72% and just 1 assist.
Ilya Samsonov (TOR) – Samsonov has had a rough start to the season. In 5 appearances, he has a 0.864 SV% and 0.632 HDSV% at 5v5.
Division Spotlight: Pacific
It was widely expected to be a two horse race at the top of the Pacific this season. The Vegas Golden Knights have done their part, getting off to a blazing start. The Edmonton Oilers were supposed to be the other contender, however they’ve had a horrid start to the season. The Calgary Flames are also searching for answers and the Alberta rivals find themselves near the bottom of the current standings. The Vancouver Canucks are the closest pursuer behind the Golden Knights, backed by an outstanding start to the season by Thatcher Demko. The Ducks have also gotten off on the right foot with a young team looking to create optimism around their rebuild.
