The first week of the NHL season revealed a lot about the current state of the league’s 30 franchises and, while it’s important not to overreact in the case of any one team, some squads might already be reaching for the panic button. There has certainly been plenty of surprise through the first week of action, so let’s have a look through and recap both the good and the bad.
The Good
Montreal Canadiens (3-1-0)
The Canadiens opened the season with consecutive wins over the Toronto Maple Leafs and Washington Capitals on back-to-back nights before rallying from a three goal deficit to beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 in a shootout in their third road game in four nights. The wheels finally fell off in a 7-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning but Montreal finished their season opening trip with a 3-1 record and will have an excellent opportunity to build off that start with four in a row on home ice. Carey Price is one of the league’s elite goalies and the Canadiens are rolling three lines that can score right now. Meanwhile, the defense, led by PK Subban and Andrei Markov, is holding its own at both ends of the ice. Montreal’s strong start is a bit of surprise but it’s clear this team is a legitimate contender in the Eastern Conference.
New York Islanders (3-0-0)
The Islanders are going all in as they look to bring playoff hockey back to Long Island one last time before moving to Brooklyn next season. The last-minute acquisitions of veteran defensemen Johnny Boychuk and Nick Leddy have paid dividends as Boychuk in particular has been a real catalyst. The Islanders have won three in a row to open the year and with John Tavares back at full strength up front and Jaroslav Halak standing tall in net, this team looks like they are on the rise.
The Bad
Colorado Avalanche (1-2-1)
It wasn’t so much the back-to-back losses to Minnesota to open the year as it was that the Avalanche were dramatically outshot and outscored 8-0 in consecutive shutouts. The defense stepped up in a 2-1 win over Boston that ended when Danny Briere scored his 300th career goal in the final second of the third period but Colorado was back on the losing end the following night when they dropped a 3-2 overtime decision against the Toronto Maple Leafs. An offense that features Matt Duchene, Nate Mackinnon, Gabriel Landeskog, and Ryan O’Reilly has managed just three goals through four games. At the other end, Semyon Varlamov hasn’t looked as good as he did early last season. They registered 112 points last season but are scuffling so far this season.
Philadelphia Flyers (0-2-2)
Philadelphia opened last season with three straight losses before Peter Laviolette was replaced as head coach by Craig Berube. One year later, they’re winless through four games. Don’t be surprised if there are more changes on the horizon if the Flyers don’t turn things around in a hurry. Special teams certainly hasn’t been a problem as Philadelphia ranks in the top-10 for both the powerplay and penalty kill through four games and they have scored three goals or more in three of their four games. The issue is goaltending as Steve Mason has struggled with a .884 save percentage early on and Ray Emery was in net for the collapse against Montreal. The Flyers overcame last year’s slow start to make the playoffs so it’s certainly not time to press the panic button just yet, but considering what happened last year it is certainly surprising to see Philadelphia off to another slow start.
