NHL 2022-23 Recap Week 5 Scoring is up, Eichel returns to Buffalo, Kane injured, Knight makes history

Goals, goals, goals. NHL scoring was up last year, and it ticks higher this year. We're just about at the three goals against a game mark. It's like the 90's again. Thursday night, we had scores of 7-2, 7-4, 8-2, and two of 5-3. We also had a 6-4 and two 5-4 games on other days. The New York Rangers scored four goals in under three minutes and five in 6:45 in their 8-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings. If you're wondering, that mark was the 136th fastest to five goals in NHL history.

Things I like

1. The 7-4 game pitted Jack Eichel and the Vegas Golden Knights against his old team, the Buffalo Sabres. Eichel notched a hat trick and gave it to the crowd after every goal as they chanted you suck back. Surprisingly, they threw a few hats to celebrate. Eichel seems to relish being the villain, which I guess is fine. But the fans had nothing to do with the reasons he hated being in Buffalo. The Golden Knights are the best team in the western conference, which is surprising. Not because they lack talent but I didn't think the new faces would gel that quickly under a new coach, but they have. This is quite a different team than the inaugural one. If they stay healthy, they're one of the favorites. Personally, I'm hoping for a western final four of Vegas, Edmonton, Dallas, and Colorado.

2. Spencer Knight made 40 saves for his first shutout this season, becoming the fifth youngest goalie in NHL history to have a forty or more shot shutout. Although it was starting to look like he was the future last season, it’s becoming clear he is also the present for the Florida Panthers. And it’s great timing, too, because his larger contract kicks in next year, and the Panthers aren’t going to spend almost 15 million on goalies next season. That means Sergei Bobrovsky will probably be traded, assuming anyone wants that contract. Nobody does, but someone did take most of Roberto Luongo’s massive contract in a trade. Oh wait, that was Florida.

Things I don't

1. Evander Kane was having a great season until Pat Maroon's skate blade accidentally cut his wrist. A giant pool of blood was left on the ice as Kane rushed off. Kane will miss three months which is a considerable amount of time. It was a scary freak accident. It obviously doesn't happen much, but it makes you wonder if the gloves could be made a little longer and tighter so it wouldn't happen. Hockey gloves are quite loose up top. The Edmonton Oilers will need other players to step up now.

2. I really enjoyed the World Cup of Hockey in 2016. The next one was scheduled for 2024, but that won't happen because of the war in Ukraine. I really hope the war doesn't go on that long. While I understand the postponement, there's no reason it needs to be every eight to ten years. Ideally, it would be every four years as an alternate to the Olympics, like how the Euro Cup is every two years after the World Cup.

Fights of the Week

Special thanks to hockeyfights.com for making this section a little easier to do.

Ty Dellandrea vs Brenden Dillon

A lot of great punches that landed, and it was long.

Connor Dewar vs Nathan Beaulieu

Another good one with some great defense.

Nicolas Deslauriers vs Mathieu Olivier

Pretty decent fight serenaded by bagpipes.

Goats of the Week

Tampa Bay Lightning

The Lightning screwed up four times on a powerplay that enabled Warren Foegele to score a short-handed goal. The Lightning lost to the Edmonton Oilers by one.

Stat Line of the Week

11/07/22 Washington 5 vs. Edmonton 4

Evgeny Kuznetsov was goalless entering the game by he was busy on the power play, where he scored all his points. The Capitals had four power-play goals and an unassisted goal on a takeaway. Kuznetsov passed 500 career points last month.

Numbers, Numbers

1 – Sorry Lindy chant by the New Jersey Devils fans after they booed the coach at the start of the season, now they have the third most points 14 – Points in the last five games by Mikko Rantanen 73 – Penalty Minutes for the St. Louis Blues, last in the NHL, you think they'd have more wins then 229 – Penalty Minutes for the Anaheim Ducks, first in the NHL 0 – Home losses for the Bruins, the only undefeated team at home left in the NHL

Rankings

The rankings are based on how the teams are currently playing.

Top 5

1. Boston
2. New Jersey
3. Vegas
4. NY Islanders
5. Los Angeles

Bottom 5

30. Columbus
31. St. Louis
32. San Jose
33. Anaheim
34. Buffalo