Coast to Coast: An Overview of the First Two Weeks of the NHL Season
Here’s a look at all the fun happenings from the first two weeks of the NHL season.
I took the first week of the season to let things breathe, partially because the Florida Panthers had a back-to-back starting the Monday I planned on writing these columns, and by the time we got to Wednesday, I wanted to let the coverage of the wonderful tribute to Johnny Gaudreau that the Columbus Blue Jackets put together during that fateful Tuesday game.
And really, every little thing the Blue Jackets celebrated that night about what made Johnny who he was is exactly what makes the first week of the season so special.
For both the players and the folks who cover the sport, it’s all about rekindling those relationships you have with your teammates, the fans, or in my case, fellow media personnel that make showing up to the rink so special. It’s about the energy you feel when the puck drops on opening night and the adrenaline rush you get from getting back up to game speed. And it’s about all of the jokes and little quirks that happen in between whistles, in the locker room or at the bar after the game (again, in my case, at least.)
I mentioned this in my story last week, but the thing that stuck with me the most is what Meredith Gaudreau said in a video message right before puck drop that night: “Let’s love the game that Johnny loved.”
Embracing all of those things that make hockey great is exactly how you carry the legacy of a guy who played the game with electric speed and a beaming smile and had an undying love for skittles, purple Gatorade, and sauce-less, buttered noodles. Embrace everything that makes your favorite player who they are, your favorite teammates who they are, and if you are really inclined, what makes your favorite beat writer what they are.
Anyways, let’s take a look at some of the biggest storylines that came from the past couple weeks of hockey:
Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson scores a goal, has a few jokes to make afterward
What better segue from the fun and whimsy of hockey to what happened on the ice last week (and the team the Panthers happen to play against tomorrow) than with a goalie goal? And man, this one was electric.
With his team on the power play and the clock winding down, Gustavsson made a glove save, plopped the puck down onto his sick heaved it from his own crease, and after it arced higher than the average Patrick Mahomes deep ball, landed perfectly and slid right into the empty net with 8.1 seconds to go.
He was mobbed by his teammates and then led the fist bump line to the bench after becoming just the third goaltender in NHL history to score a goal on the power play.
Gustavsson said the idea to shoot the puck in that moment came form a conversation he had with Marc-Andre Fleury during the TV timeout.
"Flower looked up to the board and was like, ‘We’re up two goals. You should probably try it if you get the chance. You’re shooting, right?’” He said, according to Sarah McClellan of the Minnesota Star Tribune. “I was like, ‘Yeah, maybe I should.’"
He did, and now he thinks he should be in on power play meetings.
For more, read up on it in this story in The Athletic from the great Mike Russo.
As for the Wild, they come into tomorrow’s matchup with the Panthers undefeated in regulation (3-0-2) and a lot of it is in part due to Gustavsson, who was also 2-0-0 with a .962 SV% and a 1.00 GAA in two starts last week on top of his goal, which was good enough to give him third star of the week honors.
Who’s hot, Who’s not?
The Winnipeg Jets are the hottest team in hockey going into this week — the only unbeaten team in the league at 5-0-0, for that matter.
Connor Hellebuyck is back in Vezina Trophy-caliber form after his blow up against the Colorado Avalanche in the playoffs last year, starting the year with a 4-0-0 record, a .952 SV% and a 1.25 GAA.
The Utah Hockey Club was also in that unbeaten club for longer than expected, winning its first three games before losing their first game to, ironically enough, the New Jersey Devils. That had to have been a tough ‘welcome to reality’ moment for the Mormons…
Anyways, Dylan Guenther looked like a legitimate stud to start the year, scoring five goals in the first three games to start the season while new captain Clayton Keller leads the team in scoring with four goals and eight points in their first six games.
Between the new digs in Utah, the culture shift with Keller at captain, the new additions like Mikhail Sergachev and Kevin Stenlund adding stability to that core, and the vibes being better overall with the stability the move brought, this team looks like it is hitting its stride, and it is talented enough to hang in there in the playoff race.
The Calgary Flames were also in that unbeaten club for a while before falling 2-1 in overtime to the Seattle Kraken on Saturday night. A big reason for their success? The re-emergence of Jonathan Huberdeau.
Huberdeau is playing his best stretch of hockey since arriving in Calgary as part of the deal that sent Matthew Tkachuk to Florida, scoring three goals and six points in the first five games of the season. After having a fall from a 115-point clip in his final season with the Panthers to a pair of 50-point seasons, it is good to see Huby Doo back to doing what Huby does.
Out East, the New Jersey Devils lead the league at 5-2-1 behind a re-built blue line and new goaltender Jacob Markstrom while the New York Rangers and Panthers (yes, even without Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov) are tied with nine points.
As for who’s not, it really isn’t too fair to judge this early, but the Nashville Predators have yet to win a game since adding Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault in the offseason and the Colorado Avalanche’s goaltending situation has grown increasingly concerning.
We will monitor those situations and talk about them next week…
One Game I am Looking Forward To
Well, I took some money out of the Pucks and Palms travel budget to hop on a plane and cover this one live, so I might as well go out and say that the clash between the Panthers and Rangers on Thursday night is probably the game to watch. Regardless of whether Aleksander Barkov is in the lineup that game or not.
The Rangers are going to come into this one motivated to prove themselves against the defending champions in front of their home crowd at Madison Square Garden. Both teams are loaded with talent — and at the time I am writing this, Sam Reinhart and Artemi Panarin are tied for the league-lead with 12 points — and if you combine that with fun play styles and the most famous arena, it’s a can’t-miss atmosphere.
As for the game I am most looking forward to watching on an off day? You can’t go wrong with Penguins-Oilers on Friday. Both teams are under .500 to start the year, but it’s a clash between Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby and when you have guys of that caliber fighting to right the ship before things get out of hand, you have a fun game with a lot at stake.
That will be appointment television for me.