The wonderful thing about a new NHL season is it can feel both fresh and familiar all at once.
No doubt, that intoxicating new-car smell is everywhere in October. You get a good whiff of it watching Vladimir Tarasenko score his first goal as an Ottawa Senator to open the scoring in the Sens’ 5-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday. The Russian winger had himself a wonderful four-point weekend as Ottawa got off on the right foot with a 5-2 victory in its home opener on Saturday versus the Philadelphia Flyers before besting the Bolts by the same count 24 hours later.
The Vancouver Canucks also won on Saturday thanks in large part to Casey DeSmith making 37 saves in Edmonton in his first start with Vancouver. Mackenzie Blackwood didn’t get a ‘W’ like DeSmith, but he did make an incredible 51 saves in his Sharks debut during a shootout loss to the Colorado Avalanche that same night. In need of a change, Blackwood came over to San Jose from New Jersey in the summer for a measly six-round pick. Recall, this is a goalie who was on Team Canada’s Olympic radar two years ago and is still just 26. In what figures to be a lost season for San Jose, Sharks fans can dream of finding something in goal.
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The freshest faces, naturally, belong to the teenagers in the league. One of them, 19-year-old Anaheim Ducks defenceman Pavel Mintyukov, scored his first big-league goal Sunday in a victory over the Carolina Hurricanes. Another, of course, is the 18-year-old who seems completely unincumbered by his “next one” status. Connor Bedard made his Hockey Night in Canada debut on Saturday, picking up an assist in a 3-2 loss in Montreal to give him one point in each twirl of his fledgling NHL career.
No new player in the league carries the same element of possibility as No. 98.
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At the other, old-pair-of-slippers end of the spectrum, you’ll find Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin — now in their 18th season as twin totems for the Penguins — back doing what they do. The 37-year-old Malkin went crazy with six points in a pair of wins on the weekend, while Sid the Kid — now, somehow, 36 years old — bagged a brace against the Washington Capitals on Friday to give himself three goals in this young season.
That’s still only half as many as Auston Matthews, whose old twine-tickling actions are set to a new goal song in Toronto. A hat trick on the first Saturday of the season after a three-goal effort on opening night? That’s got to be beyond comforting for Leafs fans who’ve watched their guy score more goals (305) since he entered the league in 2016-17 than any other player.
Since we’re at the start of the season and all, it’s easy for these familiar stars to trigger fresh hope with their play. Maybe Matthews can be a 60-goal guy again; Perhaps Crosby and Malkin can make Steeltown absolutely sing once more.
Old and new, it’s all on the table right now. And that’s what makes this time of year so fun.
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Other Takeaways
• Speaking of the Pens, Jake Guentzel’s hot start certainly register’s as a nice surprise. We all know Guentzel can bury, but the Penguins caught everybody off-guard when they announced in early August at that Guentzel required ankle surgery for an injury that wasn’t healing as everyone had hoped. At that point, Guentzel missing at least a month of the season seemed very in play.
Well, here we are, three games into the year and Guentzel has not only played every shift, he’s registered six points in three games after his 1-2-3 showing versus the Flames on Saturday. That’s a nice way to start any season, let alone one that precedes your ability to become an unrestricted free agent.
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• Repeating as Stanley Cup champs is tough. But among the reasons to believe it’s in play for the 3-0-0 Vegas Golden Knights is the possibility that we could be watching Jack Eichel hit a whole new career tier. I mean, this on Saturday versus the Ducks was pretty silly.
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The post-season really felt like Eichel’s coming out party last spring. Don’t forget, his first year-and-half in the desert before Vegas’ run wasn’t always smooth and obviously the finally couple years in Buffalo were defined by injury and feuding.
Eichel turns 27 in a couple weeks; he’s healthy, presumably extremely happy and — with four points in three games, including his two versus Anaheim — could be ready to push for the first 100-point season of his career.
Weekend Warrior
We had three hatties on the weekend — Matthews, Boone Jenner and Frank Vatrano — but we’re going with Josh Morrissey, who played as integral role in a Winnipeg goal being scored on Saturday as any Jets player who was actually on the ice when it happened.
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Red and White Power Ranking
1. Toronto Maple Leafs (2-0-0): Matthews and his half-dozen goals are obviously the story of the early season, but newcomer John Klingberg has picked up a tidy three points in his first two games as a Leaf.
2. Vancouver Canucks (2-0-0): After last fall’s 0-5-2 stumble out of the gate, two wins to kick off the season — especially against Edmonton, a division foe — is a dream start for the Canucks.
3. Winnipeg Jets (1-1-0): After signing his big contract extension just before the season, Mark Scheifele has immediately reminded everyone what kind of player he is. The Jets’ top centre scored a goal and added an assist in Saturday’s home-opener win versus Florida, giving him two tallies in as many games this year.
4. Edmonton Oilers (0-2-0): We certainly don’t expect to see the Oilers this low in the ranking again this year, but it’s been a tough start to the year for Edmonton. The team’s five-on-five save percentage through two losses is .750, dead last in the league.
5. Ottawa Senators (2-1-0): Can Jakob Chychrun — at 25 years old — take his offensive game to a whole new level in his first full year with the Sens? He’s off to an awesome start with a four-point showing over two weekend wins.
6. Calgary Flames (1-1-0): It was great to see 2021 first-rounder Matt Coronato get his first big-league snipe on Saturday, but four unanswered, third-period goals by the host Penguins made it a tough night for the Flames. Calgary has four more games to go on this roadie.
7. Montreal Canadiens (1-0-1): Sam Montembault had a pretty flat training camp, but the 26-year-old — eligible to become a UFA in July — had a strong start in his first outing of the year on Saturday to backstop the Habs to a victory.
The Week Ahead
• Connor Bedard visits Auston Matthews and the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday. Matthews can become the first player in league history to register three straight hat tricks if he can stay on this blistering heater.
• Pierre-Luc Dubois wanted out of Winnipeg, but he’s going back to visit his old teammates as a member of the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday. That same night brings a tasty Western Conference matchup when the Dallas Stars visit Vegas.
• Alex DeBrincat is unlikely to get a warm reception when he returns to Ottawa with the Red Wings on Saturday. DeBrincat’s one and only season in Ottawa didn’t go the way anyone hoped last year, but the Michigan boy has three goals in two games — including a pair on Saturday versus the Devils — to kickstart the beginning of his tenure with the Wings.
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