As the first month of the NHL season draws to a close we can start to form more definitive opinions about the results certain teams have put up. Moving into November here are a few notes that jumped out at me:
1) The Montreal Canadiens are playing with fire – Le bleu blanc et rouge are off to a torrid start with 17 points and sitting atop the Eastern Conference. But how close are they to flipping that record? I’m not sure, but having that kind of record and an even goal differential seems really hard to sustain. It’s hard to win that many close games over the course of an 82 game season. By contrast the Tampa Bay Lightning are +9 and the Pittsburgh Penguins are +14. Another comparison is the Toronto Maple Leafs, also with an even differential yet they have produced only 9 points year to date.
2) Just when you thought the Buffalo Sabres couldn’t get worse – Look, anyone that follows hockey a little knew the Sabres were going to challenge for the right to draft Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel. The talent isn’t there to contend for a playoff spot this year. But the Sabres are on pace to score 97 goals for the entire season. According to statshockey.net the record for fewest goals over a season is 1953-54 Chicago Blackhawks, whom lit the lamp 133 times. Unless someone reminds Drew Stafford he is in a contract year and it’s ok to score 30 goals again, the only question seems to be will the team top 100 goals for the year? The record seems to be a lock.
3) How many will get to 50? – The last time there were five 50 goal scorers in the same season was 2005-06, when Alexander Ovechkin, Ilya Kovalchuk, Jaromir Jagr, Jonathan Cheechoo and Dany Heatley accomplished the feat. This season there are another fistful of players off to blazing starts. And if Corey Perry, Rick Nash, Steven Stamkos, Tyler Seguin and Sidney Crosby can maintain their current pace we will see the feat repeated. Hopefully this is a sign that the so-called “dead puck era” is coming to a close. In fact, I would bet that two of these players (Perry, Stamkos) are a threat to get 60 this year.
4) Nashville “Rinne” missed their goaltender – quick, name me the team leading the league in GAA this year. No it’s not one of the high profile goaltenders from last years Stanley Cup Finals. It’s the Nashville Predators. Pekka Rinne is currently fifth in the league in personal GAA and is leading the charge up the standings with the Predators tied for fifth in the league in points. If the offense can figure out how to give Rinne and Carter Hutton a little more support, this will be the team none of the powerhouses in the Western Conference will want to see in a seven game series.
5) Canada’s pleasant surprise in the Capital – raise your hand if you had the Ottawa Senators trading arguably their best offensive weapon to Dallas in Jason Spezza and still being in the top five in the Eastern Conference at any point during the season? The Senators have a winning record both at home and on the road at this juncture. They are going to need to find a little more defensive punch, giving up 22 goals in 9 games. But the Senators seem poised to take advantage of a weaker Eastern Conference and push toward giving Canada another hope in the playoffs.