Goals go missing for Crosby, Ducks
The first month of the NHL season always has surprises
The National Hockey League is almost through its first month and already there are plenty of surprises. Here is a look at five of them:
BEST PLAYER
The Dallas Stars’ Jamie Benn entered Wednesday with the NHL lead in points (15) and goals (eight), picking up from last season where he won his first Art Ross Trophy as the league’s top scorer. What’s key, though, is his leadership: Benn elevated his off-season training program, working out in Dallas and bringing most of Stars with him. Even players who have been in the NHL longer than Benn (who is en- tering his seventh season) followed his training program, and look up to him as the team’s leader.
SID HAS SLID
What’s wrong with this picture: Sidney Crosby was tied for 225th in NHL scoring with three points through Tuesday’s games. Two-hundred-and-25th! Crosby did not register a point in his first five games, and the expected chemistry with Phil Kessel did not materialize out of the gate. You don’t expect Crosby to remain that low in scoring, but clearly, he’s not the guaranteed top-five scorer that he has been in the first nine years of his NHL career.
CAPITAL GAINS
Montreal may have forged a franchise-record winning streak to open the season — and set an NHL record for regulation wins at the start of the year — but the team to beat in the East is Washington. The Capitals, with Alex Ovechkin back on track as a top-three player in the game, entered Wednesday first in goals per game, second on the power play, and first in shots allowed per game. All are championship level stats if Washington can maintain them. In addition, defenceman John Carlson has attracted attention as unsung elite blueliner, and maybe one of the most underrated players in the conference.
CALIFORNIA OPPOSITES
The Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks are two teams going in opposite directions. The Kings opened the season with three consecutive losses, but have since won six straight. Goaltender Jonathan Quick has been outstanding (five goals against in his last five games, all wins) while the defence is deep with Drew Doughty, Braydon McNabb, Jake Muzzin and Alec Martinez forming one of the best top four in the NHL. In Anaheim, the Ducks are off to a terrible 1-6-2 start, with just nine goals in nine games. The firing watch is on for coach Bruce Boudreau.
BLUE BLUE JACKETS
Columbus drew the attention of the hockey world for its terrible start to the season, then even more headlines when they hired coach John Tortorella. The new coach certainly has his detractors, but Columbus has won two straight and that’s good news for a team with much higher expectations than last place. Unfortunately, everyone is still waiting for the final word on Ryan Johansen, the team’s top player, who left the club on the weekend to be tested for the cause of recurring fatigue.