Senators, Habs and Canucks among early-season surprises
The Toronto Maple Leafs and Winnipeg Jets entered the National Hockey League season as the only perceived “sure things” when it came to Canadian playoff teams.
The Calgary Flames, with a new head coach and a roster overhaul, and the Edmonton Oilers, keen to rebound after a miserable campaign, fell into the second tier of clubs with postseason potential.
The country’s other three franchises?
Forget it. No way they’d be playing into the spring.
There’s still a good chance that ends up being the case, but the Ottawa Senators, Montreal Canadiens and Vancouver Canucks are proving to be among the league’s surprises as the 2018-19 schedule flips to its third week.
Dogged by negative headlines over a long stretch that culminated with the trade of captain and star defenceman Erik Karlsson on the eve of training camp, Ottawa sits with a surprising 3-2-1 record thanks to a young roster that doesn’t seem to know or care it isn’t supposed to be this competitive or entertaining this soon.
Sure, the advanced statistics don’t suggest the Senators will be able to maintain this level — Ottawa’s even-strength shot differential is near the bottom of the league and goalie Craig Anderson was tied for the most shots faced ahead of Wednesday’s action.
But sophomore defenceman Thomas Chabot is second in NHL scoring among blueliners with eight points, while rookie counterpart Maxime Lajoie, a 2016 fifth-round pick and relative unknown until this season, is third with seven.
And then there’s winger Brady Tkachuk — the No. 4 selection at June’s draft — who has three goals and three assists in just four games. Ottawa got some bad news Wednesday, however, when it was revealed Tkachuk will be out about month with a torn ligament in his leg.
“You’re starting to see these guys get a little more confident,” Anderson said of Ottawa’s youngsters after Monday’s 37-save performance that matched his age in a 4-1 victory over Dallas. “They’ve just got to stick with the program.”
Senators head coach Guy Boucher, known much of his career for preferring a defensive setup, deserves a lot of credit for letting his players be creative offensively and express themselves.
“The message in here is, ’Let’s go get it. Why not? We have nothing to lose,’” said Ottawa veteran forward Matt Duchene.
Meanwhile in Montreal, little was also expected from the Canadiens after dealing captain Max Pacioretty to Vegas right before camp.
But a healthy Carey Price in goal, an emphasis on speed, and relentless puck pursuit on display since opening night saw Montreal (3-1-1) pick up a pair of impressive wins over Pittsburgh — 5-1 and 4-3 in a shootout — before blowing the doors off Detroit 7-3.
“The game is getting quicker, so you adapt and you say, ‘What can be most successful for us?’ ” Canadiens head coach Claude Julien said. “That’s what we’ve done this year.”
The pre-season outlook in Vancouver wasn’t much different, but rookie Elias Pettersson breathed new life into the Canucks. The 19-year-old centre had five goals and three assists in five games before suffering a brain injury when he was slammed to the ice by Florida defenceman Michael Matheson over the weekend.
Without their phenom, Vancouver (4-2-0) picked up a 3-2 overtime victory in Pittsburgh on Tuesday — the Canucks’ third straight on the road — with Brock Boeser scoring 34 seconds into the extra period.
“We have the next-man-up mentality,” Boeser said.
It’s no doubt a small sample size, but Ottawa, Montreal and Vancouver have given fans in their cities some early hope.