The Toronto Maple Leafs put their second five game streak of the season on the line last night against the Pittsburgh Penguins, but this was written ahead of the game, so please note that all stats and standings are up to date as of last night.
Other than the Toronto Maple Leafs dominance, the big news of the week was probably the Covid outbreaks throughout the NHL.
Despite vaccination being 100% – one trash player , the NHL was forced to cancel the Senators games, just a week or so after a bunch of Sharks and Avs players were quarantined. Though this is unfortunate, at least with everyone vaccinated its reasonable to assume everyone will return shortly in good health.
Still, watching games and seeing thousands of maskless people just seems so disconnected from my personal day-to-day reality that it’s weird. I personally wouldn’t go anywhere near a hockey game right now.
In Other More Interesting Less Depressing NHL News:
The Montreal Canadiens are an absolute mess, but they do offer an insight into the hilarious way in which whatever is happening in the present gets taken as THE WAY THINGS WILL ALWAYS BE.
The Canadiens over-achieved in the playoffs so expectations were sky-high, even though anyone with a brain could have told you that they just rode a lucky-at-the-right-time streak to glory last year, and that they’d be hard-pressed to even make the playoffs with their 3 x #3 centres approach.
Still, they aren’t as bad as they’ve played and they’ve got a lot of nice talent for the future. What are they missing? The same thing every OK team that overrates their abilities is missing: the generational player. (all stats naturalstattrick.com).
It’s why Carolina and Florida are not as good as their records indicate they are right now. Take away their insane goaltending and hot shooting, and what do you have?
Before we go, a few notes about the NHL standings.
The Islanders are in last in their division. They’ve gotten so lucky at certain times over the last couple years, but their underlying numbers have never been too good, and they also went through long periods in each season where they were among the worst. It shouldn’t be a surprise to see them in last. And it’s fun.
Still can’t believe they gave Lamoriello an award for finishing 12th and giving away a star defenseman just to troll the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Wild lead the NHL in expected goals percentage, Florida is in first place, and Leon Draisaitl leads the NHL in both goals and points. Remember when two teams passed on him in the draft? Good times!
What I like best about this NHL season so far, other than the Leafs potentially being in first place depending on last night’s results, is the Red Wings keeping pace with Toronto and Tampa, and the breakout of 2020 4th overall pick Lucas Raymond, who has nearly a point per game so far.