Most Canadians know the feeling of being on a toboggan, tipping forward at the summit of a slope and soon realizing you don’t have a lot of control over what happens next. At that point, you hang on knowing you’re simply along for the ride.
Right now, the North Division — packed with seven Canadian clubs — is giving off similar everything-is-in-play vibes.
Had Saturday night’s North results all gone the other way, it would have been tempting to start drawing some conclusions. And while you still won’t win much money betting on the Toronto Maple Leafs to finish first and the Ottawa Senators to land in last, the actual results of the three games underscored the idea that one month into this one-off experiment, the Group of Seven is a muddled picture.
The Senators, Montreal Canadiens and Vancouver Canucks all earned important wins in their weekend games. Start with the Senators, who kicked off Hockey Day in Canada with a last-second 2-1 victory over the Jets in Winnipeg.
Though it was still just Ottawa’s second win in its past six outings, the Senators have gained some kind of grip on things after teetering on the edge of oblivion. It’s a death struggle for this team to find the back of the net, but at least the Sens are giving up a respectable 2.67 goals-against in their past half-dozen showings. Marcus Hogberg got his first win of the year by making 30 saves versus Winnipeg, providing some hope that he and Matt Murray — .849 save percentage in his first seven games compared to a .930 mark in his past five — might yet supply some security in the crease for this young squad.
Even if they’re locked into seventh, the Sens can still prove capable of squeezing teams.
As for the Canadiens, they spent most of Saturday night looking like a sure thing to fall seven points behind the Leafs for first place in the group. Instead, the real Carey Price stood up and the Canadiens snatched a 2-1 win they desperately needed to staunch some bleeding. A defeat would have sent the Habs on a week-long break — their next game is Saturday against the Buds again — contemplating how a hot start had gone up in smoke. After looking flat for the entire year, Price proved he can be the difference in a nail-biter of a game. If the 33-year-old can consistently find that form, it will give the Canadiens — who sit three points back of the Leafs — a path to victory on occasions when a work-in-progress offence isn’t firing.
Finally, there was Vancouver’s 3-1 victory over the Calgary Flames. Though six of the seven cities have all faced at least a mini-crisis already this year — Toronto being the exception — there’s no doubt the most panicked shrieks have been coming from the Pacific coast. Why else would franchise chairman Francesco Aquilini come out and quash speculation about swords dangling over the heads of GM Jim Benning and coach Travis Green?
A loss to the Flames would have made it seven L’s in a row for Vancouver and sent more screams Aqulini’s way to take action. Instead, the Canucks put 45 pucks on old pal Jacob Markstrom while limiting the Flames to 19 shots on Thatcher Demko. Though two of them were losses, the Canucks are outshooting opponents over their past three games by nearly a two-to-one margin (112-64). If that alone doesn’t make you believe better days are ahead, consider the fact Vancouver will play its third consecutive home game on Monday versus Calgary and will remain in its own digs for nine of its next 12 outings after that. The Canucks’ .389 points percentage isn’t pretty, but it could look a lot different by the end of February.
At some point down the road we’ll have a better handle on how this broader Canucks experiment will shake out. At this point, though, there are still seven teams with a lot of hill left to traverse.
Other Takeaways
• I thought the Chicago Blackhawks would give the Detroit Red Wings a run for their money in terms of being the most dreadful squad in the Central — and possibly the entire league. Instead, Saturday’s 3-2 overtime win versus the Columbus Blue Jackets was just the latest evidence that this frisky Hawks team is going to stay in the mix. The two points earned marked the eighth time in 10 outings Chicago has managed to pick up at least a single point from a game. Alex DeBrincat’s extra-time winner versus Columbus was his eighth goal of the year and it should come as no surprise that No. 88 drew an assist on the marker.
• My biggest “What the hell are they going to do?” team for about a year has been the San Jose Sharks. So many huge contracts, so many over-30 bodies. Saturday’s 3-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights means the Sharks are still stuck on one — one! — regulation/overtime win this year.
While they might not be in San Jose territory yet, the Nashville Predators are fast becoming a team that looks like it is in serious trouble. The Preds were dropped 4-2 by the Red Wings on Saturday. After opening the season with two wins, Nashville — which, granted, is missing some key bodies — also has a single regulation/overtime victory in 13 contests. Don’t forget, the Predators fired Peter Laviolette last season and lost in the qualifying round. The Juuse Saros succession plan has not taken and the Matt Duchene signing that looked like a no-brainer in 2019 could provide a verse or two for the saddest of country songs.
More than any other two teams that never won a championship, San Jose and Nashville were franchises you gave the benefit of the doubt to over the past decade. Where it goes from here is anybody’s guess.
Weekend Warrior
Man, hockey is fond of smacking you with reminders that, in fact, you know nothing. First Marc-Andre Fleury is the face of the franchise in Vegas, then — like, two kick saves later — we’re talking about how the Knights would do anything to clear his salary off the books to make room for Robin Lehner and all their other shiny new toys. Well, here we are, with Fleury playing like one of the best in the business. The 36-year-old allowed one goal to San Jose on Saturday, then blanked the high-powered Colorado Avalanche 24 hours later. ‘Flower’ has a .944 save percentage this season, better than any goalie with at least five games played.
The Week Ahead
• Connor McDavid needs three points to reach 500 for his career. If he does so on Monday versus the Winnipeg Jets — and are you betting against it? — he’ll edge Sidney Crosby to do it the fastest among active players. Sid required 369 outings to get there, while Monday will be McDavid’s 368th game.
• We’ll learn a lot about whether the Sens are making strides or not this week as they visit Toronto for three straight beginning Monday night.
• Speaking of Crosby, ‘The Kid’ is slated to play his 1,000th NHL game on Saturday versus the New York Islanders. How much money would you pay to know right now if, with Pittsburgh’s new management system in place, Sid will for sure, definitely, absolutely play game, say, 1,100 as a member of the Pens should the team flameout this year?
• Next weekend also brings 2021’s version of outdoor games. Lake Tahoe will be the site of a clash between Colorado and Vegas on Saturday, before the Bruins and Flyers face-off on Sunday.
