With the NHL regular season officially underway some teams came out with a bang while others seem to be disappointing their fans already.
Elite:
Colorado Avalanche:
Currently sitting in first place in the league, the Avalanche (3-0-1) are off to a great start this season. Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon are two players who have already made an impact this season right away. MacKinnon is the leading goal scorer (four) and Makar is right behind teammate Martin Necas who leads the team in assists (five). Fans should look to the second, third and fourth line to step up in upcoming games to ensure a strong season ahead.
Florida Panthers:
Coming off back-to-back Stanley Cup wins, the Florida Panthers continue to be a powerful team in the NHL. They opened their season by raising their Stanley Cup banner before defeating the Chicago Blackhawks in Florida’s home opener. Florida continues to have scoring depth with multiple players from different lines getting goals in their games so far. Even without their captain Aleksander Barkov, who is expected to miss the entire season, and forward Matthew Tkachuk, who is also expected to be out for the next few months, Florida has relied on their other players to make up for the loss.
Boston Bruins:
Despite losing their captain Brad Marchand to the Florida Panthers last season, the Bruins have started their season out strong (3-1-0) with help from veteran players. A familiar face, forward Sean Kuraly, often takes the face-offs for the Bruins and in their most recent game against the Tampa Bay Lightning; Boston won 68% of the face-offs that night. Boston also is great on the penalty kill and their defense does a good job at clearing the puck from their zone and offering short-handed goal opportunities. While they have multiple shots on goal during their games, the Bruins will need to practice their passing to ensure that the puck ends up in the net.
Struggling:
Calgary Flames:
After missing the playoffs for the past three seasons, Flames fans hoped their team would kick the season off with a win but unfortunately for them, Calgary has only won one out of their three games so far. The Flames also have relied heavily on goaltender Dustin Wolf, who helped Calgary win their first game of the season with 32 saves. Their schedule is also not helpful with multiple back-to-back games against teams that have seen the playoffs consecutively in recent years. The team will need to enhance their depth scoring and stay out of the penalty box.
New York Islanders:
The Islanders are struggling to find their footing this season, falling in a third consecutive game to start out the year. This is the first time since the 2006-2007 season that the Isles are 0-3-0 to start the season. Leader of the team, captain Anders Lee spoke to the media after the team’s third loss, “It’s frustrating for sure, our game works like that sometimes. There’s no doubt about it, we want to get a win here. No one’s happy right now. You almost have to get kicked one more time before you break through.” A lack of shots on goal and poor puck control have contributed to the Islander’s poor start, and they will look to veteran players such as Lee, Mathew Barzal and Bo Horvat to keep the team’s momentum going despite the rough start.
Buffalo Sabres:
The team currently sits in last place among the league after starting their season off with a 0-3-0 record. One aspect the Sabres lack is a strong power play rotation. After shifting Alec Tuch to the second line and moving Jiri Kulich and Jack Quinn to the top line, the Sabres hoped that they would get more puck control. However, nothing changed as the Sabres went zero-for-three when on the man advantage during their game on Monday. Defenseman Mattias Samuelsson is a key player for the Sabres who is dealing with a day-to-day injury, although he has potential to play in their game Wednesday night against the Ottawa Senators. With Sabres fans already throwing their jerseys on the ice, the team will need to turn things around fast if they want to have a chance at a playoff run this season.
There is still plenty of hockey left to be played, and one thing about the NHL is that nothing is guaranteed. It is expected that these standings will change over the course of the season.