The NHL opened another season of exciting action this past weekend, with every team in the league playing on Saturday night. Some teams had already played games on Thursday and Friday, but it was good to see everyone back in action after a summer break that can never end soon enough for the fans that love the game. Here are some quick highlights from the opening first few days of play, in case you missed them:
The Washington Capitals might have the scariest offense in the league right now, as Ovechkin has been paired up with Backstrom and Semin on the top line. Following that circus act is a strong second line, anchored by free agent acquisitions Brendan Morrison, and Mike Knuble. The goaltending is still a little suspect, but the Caps have scored 15 goals through their first three games, and with scoring like that, all Theodore and Varlamov will have to do is make the basic saves that any NHL goalie should make. The Caps lost a tough one in OT to Philadelphia last night, but the offensive stars were out in full shine – check out Alex Semin’s dangle around Braydon Coburn here.
The Colorado Avalanche shocked many when they upset the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night. Then again, the Avs did retire Joe Sakic’s number that night, and it would have been a crime to lose that game. The big surprise has been keeper Craig Anderson who followed his Thursday night performance with a 35 save shutout against Vancouver on Saturday.
While the Blues were sweeping the Red Wings in Sweden, the Blackhawks and Panthers split their two games in neighboring Finland. The Panthers won the first game in a shootout, but Chicago dominated the second game 4-0, scoring 3 powerplay goals. Chicago got a very solid outing from rookie Antti Niemi, who started in place of the inconsistent Cristobal Huet.
The Habs are off to a 2-0-0 start, winning both of their weekend contests in overtime. They managed to stay afloat on opening night in Toronto, despite being outshot 46-27, and Josh Gorges scored with 12 seconds left in overtime to give them the win. Two nights later, Brian Gionta put in the rebound off his old teammame Scott Gomez’s shot, to give the Canadiens the overtime win over Buffalo. Yet again, Montreal was outshot, this time 35-17, but Carey Price has played phenomenally well, making a number of great saves in both games.
Finally, Saturday night was the debut for the New York Islanders franchise rookie, John Tavares. He scored his first NHL goal on the powerplay in the second period, and added an assist on Mark Streit’s powerplay goal. Unfortunately for the Islanders, while their young star was getting his first taste of NHL action, there was a couple of already-proven superstars on the other bench, as Pittsburgh’s duo of Crosby and Malkin combined for 1 goal and 2 assists to help send the game into overtime. After a scoreless period, Crosby and Kris Letang scored in the shootout to give the Pens their first win as defending Stanley Cup champions.
All in all, despite the fact that my beloved Leafs seem utterly incapable of putting together a complete 60-minute effort to win a game, it’s good to see the players back on the ice.