It might not be crisis time everywhere north of the 49th, but there’s certainly no shortage of consternation humming through Canada when it comes to the underperformance of some NHL teams.
Boos in Ottawa; distress in Toronto and thousand-yard stares in Northern Alberta, where we’re already at the “Everything is on the table” part of this story.
Yes, the weekend’s results definitely stoked some simmering fires.
Ottawa’s 6-4 home-ice loss to the Tampa Bay Lighting on Saturday was its fourth consecutive defeat at the Canadian Tire Centre. Spectators voiced their displeasure as the Sens left the ice and captain Brady Tkachuk — for right or wrong — decided to clap back after the contest.
This was supposed to be a step-forward campaign in Ottawa and, instead, the GM who put a fine-looking roster in place has been fired, an important young player has been suspended half the year for gambling-related reasons we still don’t know much about and — probably worst of all in the eyes of Sens backers — the banged-up team sits last in the Atlantic Division.
The Maple Leafs, meanwhile, just seem like a wonky chemistry experiment with simmering beakers everywhere that are threatening to blow up the lab. Auston Matthews’ third hat trick of the year went for naught in the 6-4 loss to Buffalo on Saturday. Yeah, AM34 might be a 60-goal guy again, but what’s it going to matter if Toronto can’t get goals from anybody other than megastars? That, along with how the dinged-up defence corps can survive, is front-of-mind for a basically .500 squad that seemed to have a pretty clear path to an Atlantic title entering the season.
And then there’s the Oilers. Eight days ago seemed like a get-right situation for Edmonton when it rolled to victory outdoors in the Heritage Classic. But the Oilers have yet to post another ‘W’ since then and Saturday afternoon’s 5-2 setback at home versus the Nashville Predators had a bit of a last-straw vibe. The final deep breaths are being taken in Edmonton, with action to follow if things don’t improve fast.
Sure, the Calgary Flames got a respite from their troubles with a 6-3 win over the Seattle Kraken on Saturday, but it will take a lot more than that for the dark clouds to blow out of Southern Alberta. Meanwhile, the Montreal Canadiens lost for the third straight outing when they were dropped 6-3 by the St. Louis Blues. The loss did feature Juraj Slafkovsky’s first goal of the year, however the province-wide fist-pumping that tally induced is pretty telling when it comes to the angst that’s been swirling around 2022’s first-overall pick.
The Winnipeg Jets rescued themselves from a 2-0 hole in Arizona on Saturday, but the only truly giddy group right now has to be the Vancouver Canucks fans cheering for a squad that blanked Dallas 2-0 on Saturday and is completely outstripping early expectations.
All is by no means lost everywhere outside British Columbia. That said, it’s getting seriously uncomfortable in more than one Canadian city right now.
Other Takeaways
• Are we going Quack Attack or Mac Attack? Either way, it’s awesome news for the Anaheim Ducks, who’ve now won six in a row after handing the Vegas Golden Knights their first 60-minute loss of the season on Sunday thanks to four third-period goals. Mason McTavish netted the game-winner and the breakout star of the season now leads the Ducks with 13 points in 11 outings. Pavel Mintyukov picked up an assist in the victory, his third straight contest with a point as the 19-year-old defenceman is an early Calder Trophy candidate to watch. It’s tempting to say there’s positive stories everywhere you look on the Ducks except for the fact Trevor Zegras — after a tough round of contract negotiations — is off to a miserable start with just two points. If he can get untracked, this young Anaheim squad will be that much more fun to watch and dangerous to face.
• Season-saving might be an extreme way to describe the Wild’s come-from-behind win over the Rangers on Saturday, but it was definitely a desperately needed ‘W’ for Minny. Filip Gustavsson — who has struggled mightily after inking a three-year deal in the summer — allowed three of the first four shots he faced elude him and it appeared the Wild were cratering toward a fifth straight ‘L’. Marc-Andre Fleury, though, stabilized things and the Wild were able to pull off a shootout win. It seems like captain Jared Spurgeon — who was hurt in the pre-season — could return any game now, so we’ll see if this team can build some momentum.
• Find a teammate who reacts to your first NHL goal the way Garnet Hathaway reacts to Louis Belpedio’s first NHL goal, scored Friday in Buffalo.
Weekend Warrior
Is it possible we don’t talk about Nikita Kucherov enough when discussing the top offensive threats in the league? The 2019 scoring champ went off with a five-point night during Tampa’s victory over the Senators.
Kucherov was so dialed in, he even did some refereeing.
Red and White Power Rankings
1. Vancouver Canucks (8-2-1) There’s a lot to be impressed by when it comes to Thatcher Demko’s start to the year, but perhaps the most jarring number is his league-best (among goalies with at least 175 minutes played) .980 high-danger save percentage at five-on-five. The next-closest mark in the NHL belongs to Jeremy Swayman at .933. Demko pitched a 27-save shutout against Dallas.
2. Toronto Maple Leafs (5-4-2) The depleted blue line and lack of secondary scoring are definitely reflected in the Leafs’ underlying numbers. After the loss to Buffalo, Toronto ranks way down at No. 26 in the league in terms of five-on-five expected goals percentage (46.24 percent).
3. Winnipeg Jets (5-4-2) Nino Niederreiter was one of three players — along with Ryan O’Reilly and Auston Matthews — to net hat tricks on Saturday. The Swiss winger’s outburst keyed Winnipeg’s comeback road win over Arizona and bodes well for some secondary scoring on the Jets.
4. Montreal Canadiens (5-4-2) Christian Dvorak’s return to the lineup on Saturday during a pretty listless loss in St. Louis likely means Alex Newhook is a winger for the foreseeable future. Let’s see if the new Hab — who hasn’t scored since the third contest of the season — can find any consistent touch on the flank.
5. Ottawa Senators (4-6-0) Since starting the year 3-1-0, Ottawa has averaged 4.17 goals against per game. The only teams to allow more during that stretch are the Chicago Blackhawks, the Minnesota Wild and, naturally, the San Jose Sharks.
6. Edmonton Oilers (2-7-1) Things do not get any easier for the Oilers following the loss to Nashville as Edmonton hits the road for seven of its next nine outings.
7. Calgary Flames (3-7-1) When it feels like nothing has gone your way all season, you take the small victories where you can get them and Martin Pospisil scoring his first NHL goal in his first big-league contest on Saturday certainly qualifies as that.
The Week Ahead
• It’s a 2022 and ’23 first-round rematch on Monday when the Tampa Bay Lightning visit the Leafs. That same night sees a stellar showdown between the Bruins and Stars in Dallas.
• Hockey Gods, have mercy on the San Jose Sharks, who probably don’t even care if they get their first win of the season on Tuesday versus Philly; they just don’t want to allow 10 GOALS AGAINST for the third straight contest. By allowing 10 to Pittsburgh on Saturday, the Sharks became the first squad since the mid-60s Bruins to see 10 pucks hit the back of their net in consecutive outings.
• It’s Hall of Fame Weekend in Toronto, as the Flames visit for the Friday night game before a goalie-heavy celebration sees former Flame Mike Vernon, former Leaf Tom Barrasso (remember that?) and King Henrik Lundqvist enter the Hall. Also heading in are Caroline Ouellette, Pierre Turgeon, Ken Hitchcock and (posthumously) Pierre Lacroix.
If you’re one of the people questioning Turgeon’s Hall chops, go compare his career stats to that of slam dunk HHOF member Mats Sundin. They’re virtually identical.
