Let’s look at some of the biggest surprises now that the NHL season is a third over.
The Ottawa Senators being in dead last (although they’ve played the fewest games) is most surprising, as is being 23rd in scoring. That’s a year and a half of a team not clicking. What’s interesting is eight teams above them have a negative or even plus-minus, and they are plus-eight. I wouldn’t count them out yet.
The New Jersey Devils are out of a playoff spot and struggling to find a goalie. After Akira Schmid’s strong playoffs, we figured they were both on an upward trajectory. He’s not even the starter.
Alex Ovechkin is on pace for less than 20 goals. He may not pass Wayne Gretzky at this rate. He has scored one in his last ten games.
The Philadelphia Flyers are in a playoff spot. Let’s hope it doesn’t last. The world’s better when I can ridicule John Tortorella for being a terrible coach.
The Edmonton Oilers and Seattle Kraken are not in playoff spots. But the Oilers coach firing is working. They’ve won seven straight, and they have games in hand. They’re outscoring teams 35-12 in that span.
The Chicago Blackhawks are almost the worst team in the NHL. I knew they weren’t a playoff team but as bad as the San Jose Sharks? Yikes.
Things I like
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The San Jose Sharks played the Detroit Red Wings in one of those wild and crazy games. The Red Wings scored four straight in the second period to jump out to a 4-0 lead, only for the Sharks to respond with four of their own. They scored six goals in three minutes and one second. The Sharks won in overtime. This was the first game in NHL history to be tied, then have one team take a 4-goal lead, and then be tied again all within the same period. And with good reason, it’s not a common thing. It’s never over in this era, even down four. This was also Patrick Kane’s debut. He didn’t score in this game but had a power play goal in his next game.
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There really aren’t any bad teams this season. The Sharks were winless for a while but have beaten the Red Wings, Devils, and Islanders this month. While barely losing to the Rangers and forcing the Golden Knights into a shootout. The Columbus Blue Jackets are probably the worst team in the Eastern Conference, but they beat the Bruins two weeks ago. There are no easy wins. You have to earn them.
Fights of the Week
Special thanks to hockeyfights.com for making this section a little easier to do.
Austin Watson vs Cole Smith
Some big haymakers were thrown. It’s a shame it wasn’t longer.
Andreas Englund vs Scott Mayfield
It takes a while to get going, but it’s long.
Goats of the Week
Dustin Wolf and Blake Coleman - Calgary Flames
The Calgary Flames played a sloppy game that they could have won.
In Coleman’s defense, there weren’t many great options, but bouncing it right off Jesper Bratt was careless.
https://www.nhl.com/video/njd-cgy-bratt-scores-goal-against-dustin-wolf-6342695046112
Dustin Wolf has a poor clearing attempt that goes right to the Devils for a goal.
https://www.nhl.com/video/njd-cgy-meier-scores-goal-against-dustin-wolf-6342698733112
Stat Line of the Week
12/06/23 Florida 5 vs.Dallas 4
| Skater | TOI | G | A | +/- | SOG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E.Rodrigue | 16:52 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Evan Rodrigues was someone to watch for after he broke out with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He signed with the Colorado Avalanche and slightly improved on a banged-up Avalanche team. But he’s really taken his game to the next level on the Florida Panthers. Although still on the third line, Rodrigues is on pace for career-season highs in goals, assists, and points. Against the Stars, he had two goals and two assists, including the eventual game-winning power-play goal off a rebound. The Stars have lost three of four after their big win over the Lightning.
https://www.nhl.com/video/dal-fla-rodrigues-scores-goal-against-jake-oettinger-6342493198112
Numbers, Numbers
12 – Straight games without a power-play goal for the Penguins 1500 – Points for Alex Ovechkin, the 16th player in NHL history to reach the mark 23 – Points by Connor McDavid during his nine-game scoring streak 6 – Points scored by the Hughes brothers in the Vancouver Canucks vs New Jersey Devils game 22 – Penalty minutes by Erik Gudbranson against the Florida Panthers. I get you don’t like being boarded, but if you’re able to stay in the game and fight the person, it obviously wasn’t that bad 47 – Points for Nikita Kucherov, first in the NHL 19 – Goals for Kucherov, first 28 – Assists for Kucherov, first 4 – Game-winning goals for Kucherov, second -1 – Plus-minus for Kucherov, definitely not first
Rankings
The rankings are based on how the teams are currently playing.
Top 5
- Toronto
- Edmonton
- Los Angeles
- NY Islanders
- Winnipeg
Bottom 5
- Anaheim
- Seattle
- Chicago
- Buffalo
- Pittsburgh