Colorado’s rebuilt power play has pushed the Avalanche to the top of the early-season board, but the opening week has offered plenty of other reasons for teams around the League to feel good about their starts.
Early-season top 16
| Rank | Team | Record | Points | Previous rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colorado Avalanche | 2-0-0 | 234 | 2 |
| 2 | Minnesota Wild | 2-0-1 | 190 | 7 |
| 3 | Carolina Hurricanes | 2-1-1 | 181 | 1 |
| 4 | Vegas Golden Knights | 3-1-0 | 180 | 6 |
| 5 | Utah Mammoth | 3-1-0 | 148 | 12 |
| 6 | New York Rangers | 4-1-0 | 143 | Not ranked |
| 7 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 2-1-0 | 140 | 8 |
| 8 | Florida Panthers | 2-0-2 | 138 | 4 |
| 9 | Anaheim Ducks | 2-0-0 | 110 | 14 |
| 10 | Edmonton Oilers | 2-0-1 | 107 | 11 |
| 11 | Montreal Canadiens | 1-1-1 | 85 | 5 |
| 12 | Washington Capitals | 1-1-0 | 72 | 10 |
| 13 | Buffalo Sabres | 2-1-0 | 67 | 9 |
| 14 | Dallas Stars | 1-2-0 | 64 | 3 |
| 15 | Winnipeg Jets | 2-0-1 | 54 | Not ranked |
| 16 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 2-1-0 | 47 | Not ranked |
Colorado’s special teams set the pace
The Avalanche were last season’s Presidents’ Trophy club despite a power play that ranked 27th at 17.1 percent. Through two games this time around, the group was clicking at 44.4 percent and Colorado was scoring seven goals per game. Artturi Lehkonen had two power-play goals, Brock Nelson had three points with the extra skater, and rookie forward T.J. Hughes has already been used in a loaded unit.
Colorado does not need to maintain that scorching conversion rate. An even league-average power play would make an already formidable five-on-five team harder to handle.
Defense, depth and fast starts
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Minnesota Wild: The Wild have yielded five goals in three games, with three of them arriving during the third period and overtime of Tuesday’s 3-2 loss in Buffalo. Minnesota allowed only two goals over its first eight periods. Jesper Wallstedt started all three games and stopped 70 of 75 shots for a .933 save percentage, while the club limited opponents to 25.0 shots per night. Minnesota finished fourth in goals against last season at 2.87 per game and has looked even tighter early.
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Carolina Hurricanes: Sebastian Aho has seven points, including four goals, in four games. More broadly, Carolina has shown no hangover from a summer spent celebrating its Stanley Cup. The Hurricanes have won their past two outings and still look built for a long spring.
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New York Rangers: After a 3-0 opening-night loss in Boston on Sept. 29, the Rangers responded with four straight wins. They are 3-0-0 at home after losing their first seven home dates last season. New York has not surrendered a first-period goal and owns a 5-0 edge in opening frames. In third periods against Tampa Bay, Detroit, Utah and the Islanders, the Rangers outscored opponents 7-2. Five of those seven goals were empty-netters, including Igor Shesterkin’s goal into an empty cage in the 5-1 win over Tampa Bay on Oct. 1.
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Dallas Stars: Dallas dropped its first two games but corrected course with a 5-0 shutout of San Jose on Monday. The Stars allowed just 13 Sharks shots and have held opponents to an average of 21.0 shots through three games. Jake Oettinger owns a 1.01 goals-against average and .943 save percentage; Casey DeSmith is at 2.05 and .923.
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Washington Capitals: The Capitals supplied a template for their best hockey in the Oct. 2 road win over Carolina. Alex Tuch scored twice, rookie defenseman Cole Hutson added another first-period goal, and Washington raced to a 3-0 lead before finishing a 5-2 victory. Three of four forward lines generated goals, and Logan Thompson made 31 saves.
Power plays driving Vegas and Utah
Vegas has scored 4.25 goals per game in its 3-1-0 start and is 5-for-16 on the power play, a 33.1 percent rate. That production matters after Pavel Dorofeyev, the club’s leader in goals and power-play goals over the prior two seasons, was dealt to the Rangers on June 26. Dorofeyev later signed a seven-year, $77 million contract carrying an $11 million average annual value.
Victor Olofsson signed a one-year deal on July 1 and immediately filled some of that void. He leads Vegas with four goals, two on the power play, one fewer than Tomas Hertl.
Utah’s man-advantage unit has been even more ruthless, going 8-for-13 in four games and producing at least one goal every night. The Mammoth struck twice on the power play in Tuesday’s 5-3 win against New Jersey. Nick Schmaltz has five goals, three with the extra attacker.
Florida absorbs a difficult road swing
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Florida opened against Carolina, watched the defending champions raise their banner, then earned a 1-0 overtime win.
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On the California trip, Aleksander Barkov suffered a knee injury in a 4-3 overtime loss at San Jose. The injury is not expected to end his season, as a prior knee injury did, but he is projected to miss six to eight weeks.
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Brad Marchand returned at Anaheim and scored late to force overtime before the Panthers lost 3-2.
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Marchand then exited against Los Angeles with an apparent lower-body injury, but Florida rallied for a 2-1 win.
The Panthers have taken six of eight available points despite uneven offensive flow, cross-country travel and the uncertainty around Marchand. Their home opener is Saturday.
Young Ducks, a historic Oilers blue line, and other encouraging signs
Anaheim’s offseason bet on Leo Carlsson has looked sharp immediately. The Ducks matched Philadelphia’s offer sheet on July 3 and signed Carlsson to a five-year, $90 million contract, then the largest in NHL history. Carlsson had five points, four assists, through Wednesday. Cutter Gauthier, signed for six years, had four points and two goals, with Carlsson assisting on both. Their early chemistry gives Anaheim a credible path toward the Pacific Division’s top three, provided it lasts beyond the opening burst.
Evan Bouchard has begun the Edmonton season at a pace rarely seen from the blue line. He opened with three goals and two assists in a 6-5 overtime loss to Vancouver, becoming the first defenseman with five points in a season opener and only the third to score three goals in Game 1. Mark Howe did it for Hartford in 1980-81 and Bert Corbeau did so for Montreal in 1919-20.
Two days later, Bouchard posted a goal and two assists in a 9-7 win at Vancouver, giving him eight points through two games, an NHL record for a defenseman at that stage of a season. He led all NHL defensemen last year with 95 points, 21 goals and 74 assists in 82 games. Bobby Orr’s 139-point 1970-71 season remains the benchmark for defenseman scoring.
Tampa Bay’s top group has produced at even strength despite an 0-for-13 start on the power play. Nikita Kucherov has a goal and three assists, while Jake Guentzel, Brandon Hagel and Ilya Mikheyev have three points apiece. Kucherov ranked in the 95th percentile or better among NHL forwards last season in high-danger, mid-range and long-range goals.
Individual early notes around the league
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Montreal: The Canadiens are still sorting out their defensive game, but Zachary Bolduc has three goals in three contests. With Ivan Demidov out for two to four weeks, the 23-year-old winger could be leaned on more heavily.
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Buffalo: Owen Power has five points, one goal and four assists, while averaging 26:34 per game. The 2021 No. 1 pick scored the overtime winner against Minnesota on Tuesday. Tage Thompson said Power “looks awesome,” while coach Lindy Ruff pointed to a stronger, faster player who is moving well.
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Winnipeg: The Jets have navigated a turbulent offseason marked by Connor Hellebuyck’s trade request and subsequent suspension. Their 3-2 win at Pittsburgh on Monday showed their resolve: Winnipeg trailed none of the emotional details of the night, outscoring the Penguins 3-1 in the third and winning the shot count 14-9 in the period. Pittsburgh had opened with two wins by a combined 13-5 score. Winnipeg’s next test came Wednesday against Colorado, but the early indication is that this will not be an easy club to put away even without the 2025 Hart Trophy winner and three-time Vezina Trophy recipient.
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Pittsburgh: Dan Muse continues to find contributions beyond his marquee names. Evgeni Malkin and Erik Karlsson each have four points, matched by Tommy Novak and defenseman Declan Carlile, who managed three points in 42 games with Tampa Bay last season. Nick Robertson has scored twice alongside Sidney Crosby, while Egor Chinakhov has continued the useful form he showed after arriving from Columbus last season. Muse guided Pittsburgh to second in the Metropolitan Division last year and has the Penguins looking like a playoff contender again.
Just outside the board
Ottawa received 40 points, followed by San Jose with 35, Seattle with three and Boston with two. Philadelphia, Boston and San Jose fell out after holding the final three spots in the previous rankings.
