NHL Week in Review- 10/10-10/15

Hockey season is back! The 2023-24 campaign kicked off with three games on Tuesday night, kickstarting a new season. The week was full of debuts, first goals, and hat tricks as all 32 teams got their seasons started. Here are the headlines and highlights from the first week of the new year. 

Daily Headlines

Tuesday 10/10

• Nikita Kucherov scores the first goal of the season as he and Nick Paul score twice in a 5-3 win over Nashville.
• Connor Bedard makes his NHL debut and records an assist as the Blackhawks score 4 unanswered to beat Pittsburgh 4-2.
• Vgeas lifts their Stanley Cup banner, then beat Seattle 4-1 to close the night.

Wednesday 10/11

• Connor Bedard scores his first NHL goal against Boston, but Chicago loses 3-1
• Brock Boeser scores 4 times, JT Miller records 5 points, and Elias Pettersson gets 4 as Vancouver routs Edmonton 8-1.
• Auston Matthews records a hat trick, including two in the final 5 minutes to force overtime in a 6-5 SO win for Toronto over Montreal.
• Owen Power signs a 7-year, $58.45m ($8.35m AAV) extension.
• Mikko Rantanen records 2 goals and 4 points in a 5-3 win over Los Angeles.

Thursday 10/12

• Adam Fantili records his first assist on Columbus' first goal of the season against Philadelphia in a 4-2 loss.
• Brock Faber scores his first career goal in his regular season debut against Florida.

Friday 10/13

• Logan Cooley records two assists against New Jersey in his NHL debut, including an assist on the game-tying goal to force overtime as the Coyotes overcome a three-point night from Jack Hughes in a 4-3 shootout victory.
• 4 points from Evgeni Malkin, 2 goals by Sidney Crosby, and 18 saves from Tristan Jarry propel Pittsburgh to a 4-0 win, handing Washington its first-ever shutout loss in a season opener.

Saturday 10/14

• Marco Rossi scores his first NHL goal in his 23rd game against Toronto after having one taken off the board in the season opener.
• Auston Matthews scores back-to-back hat tricks to begin the season.
• Matt Coronato scores his first NHL goal against Pittsburgh in a 5-2 loss.
• Boone Jenner records a hat trick, and David Jiricek scores his first NHL goal in a 5-3 win for Columbus over the Rangers. Will Cuylle gets his NHL goal in the loss.
• Thomas Bordeleau scores his first NHL goal against Colorado
• Carolina blows a three-goal lead but wins it 6-5 in a shootout over the Kings

Sunday 10/15

• Frank Vatrano records a hat trick, and Pavel Mintyukov scores his first NHL goal as the Ducks upset the Canes 6-3.

Team of the Week- Vegas Golden Knights

You couldn't ask for a more perfect start for the defending Stanley Cup champions. Vegas raised their banner on Tuesday night and proceeded to win all three games they played during the week. The goalie duo of Adin Hill and Logan Thompson was fantastic, allowing three goals all week. Chandler Stephenson scored twice and had five points. Jack Eichel had two goals and four points. 18 of the 21 skaters that dressed this week recorded a point. The strength of Vegas' Stanley Cup team was their ability to get contributions from the entire lineup. There is strength in numbers, so this team will be terrifying to deal with. 

Disappointing Team of the Week- Edmonton Oilers

During my preseason predictions, I picked the Edmonton Oilers to win the Pacific Division, placing them 3rd in my power rankings. This week was a disaster for the Oilers. They were outscored 12-4 in two games, including 8-1 in their season opener. Only five players recorded points in the first two games, and it's all the players you'd expect. The real issue was the goaltending. Jack Campbell was pulled from the opener after allowing four goals, and then Stuart Skinner allowed four goals in relief before allowing four more in their second game. Their goaltending will prevent them from making any deep runs, even with the brilliance of McDavid, Draisaitl, and their power play. 

Surprise of the Week- Vancouver Canucks

The team giving Edmonton fits was the Vancouver Canucks. I had the Canucks finishing outside of the postseason, and I'm not quite ready to change my tune about it, but this was a very good start. Their 8-1 season opener saw Brock Boeser score four goals while JT Miller and Elias Pettersson racked up serious points. Then, they beat the Oilers again a few nights later, with Pettersson picking up another multi-point game. More impressive than anything the skaters did, Thatcher Demko played the season opener while sick and ended up puking in his helmet. Casey DeSmith also impressed in his first action of the season. 

Three Stars of the Week

3rd Star- Adin Hill (VGK) (2-0-0, .964 SV%, 1.01 GAA in 2 games)

The defending champions had an excellent start to the season, winning all three of their games 4-1. The starting goalie from that team has started the season as hot as he ended their playoff run. Hill leads all goalies with a .964 save percentage, stopping 54 of the 56 shots he faced and allowing one goal in each start. Anyone who had concerns about his ability to start for this team long-term is being put on notice as the Golden Knights aim to repeat. 

2nd Star- Elias Pettersson (VAN) (1 goal, 5 assists in 2 goals)

Vancouver's 8-1 season-opening victory saw some incredible performances from many players. I'm highlighting Pettersson as the team's leader with six points. Even more impressive was his work on the power play, recording a league-high four of his six points on the man advantage. After hitting 100 points last season, the ceiling for him is even higher this season. Vancouver's success this season could hinge on his ability to keep this up. 

1st Star- Auston Matthews (TOR) (6 goals in 2 games, Back-to-back Hat Tricks)

When you accomplish something that has been done one other time in the last 100 years, you're clearly doing something right. Matthews has made the game look incredibly easy. He helped lead the comeback with two late goals in the opener against Montreal before doing it again against Minnesota a few days later. He was my preseason pick for the Rocket and the Hart. This start makes me feel confident in those picks. 

My Top 16

Borrowing NHL.com's idea to make it a Top 16, my original rankings featured my 16 playoff teams 1-16, then the teams I projected to miss the playoffs at 17-32. I didn't release that ranking. The +/- number will indicate a team's movement in the ranking from week to week. 

16. Tampa Bay (1-2-0) (-3)- Not having Andrei Vasilevskiy didn't seem like an issue during their season opener. The rest of the week didn't go as smoothly. They will need to over-rely on their offense for the next several weeks to stay afloat. 

15. Los Angeles (0-1-1) (-1)- The Kings got a tough draw in their first game, playing Colorado and Carolina to start the season. Their three-goal comeback against the Canes came up short, but they showed how strong they can be. Their goaltending is suspect, but there is time for it to improve. 

14. Ottawa (2-1-0) (+8)- After losing to Carolina in their opener, the Senators rebounded with two wins. Brady Tkachuk recorded back-to-back multi-goal games, Jakob Chychrun is proving to be a game-changing defenseman, and Vladimir Tarasenko has been a great addition to the group. 

13. New York (I) (1-0-0) (+5)- The Islanders only played one game in the first week, but they won it behind the best goalie in the league. Ilya Sorokin made 26 saves to earn a 3-2 win in their opener against the Sabres. Brock Nelson finished with two points in the win. 

12. Minnesota (1-1-0) (+3)- It feels a little counterintuitive to move Minnesota up after losing to the Maple Leafs 7-4, but they got some help with teams going into freefall. They also shut out the Panthers in their opener. We've seen both sides of Filip Gustafsson and the Wild this week.

11. Winnipeg (1-1-0) (+1)- The Jets split their games to open the season, losing late to the Flames before pouring the offense on the Panthers. It wasn't a great week for Connor Hellebuyck after signing his big contract extension, but Kyle Connor started hot, with three goals in two games. 

10. New York (R) (1-1-0) (-1)- After a lopsided season-opening win against the Sabres, the Rangers fell short against the Blue Jackets, with Igor Shesterkin allowing five goals to Columbus. Chris Kreider already has three goals this season, scoring twice on Opening Night on special teams. 

9. Vancouver (2-0-0) (+10)- It was a fantastic start for the Canucks, scoring 12 goals in two games, with Brock Boeser scoring four goals in the Opening Night win over the Oilers. The goaltending has also been strong. This Canucks team could be a serious threat. 

8. Pittsburgh (2-1-0) (+8)- Connor Bedard's debut helped spur a comeback against the Penguins, but they responded with two wins to close the week behind an excellent start by Evgeni Malkin. His six points are tied for the league lead through the first week. 

7. New Jersey (1-0-1) (-1)- Jack Hughes scored twice in the season opener, and Dougie Hamilton scored late to earn a tight win against Detroit. They were able to pick up a point in a shootout loss to the Coyotes, though they held a 3-2 lead late in the third period. 

6. Boston (2-0-0) (+5)- One year removed from a historic regular season, the Bruins started the year with two wins. David Pastrnak has three goals, James van Riemsdyk has two goals, and both goalies were great in their first starts of the season. 

5. Carolina (2-1-0) (-4)- The Hurricanes were in my top spot to start the year, but I haven't loved their start. They've blown two multi-goal leads in both of their wins, then allowed six goals to the Ducks. The saving grace is the return to form of Teuvo Teravainen, who has four goals in three games. 

4. Colorado (2-0-0) (+1)- The Avalanche haven't missed a beat, beginning the season with two wins. They dismantled the Kings to get the year going, then scored on their 50th shot of the game to force overtime, eventually winning in a shootout. 

3. Toronto (2-0-0) (-)- Offensively, the Maple Leafs have been phenomenal behind back-to-back hat tricks from Austin Matthews. Defensively, they still look lost, with Ilya Samsonov not looking that great in either win. 

2. Dallas (1-0-0) (-)- The Stars only played one game, but I didn't feel there was a good reason to drop them out of the second spot. They won in a shootout as Jake Oettinger stopped 23 of the 24 shots he faced to earn the season-opening victory. 

1. Vegas (3-0-0) (+6)- Any doubts I had about Vegas' chance to repeat went out the door quickly. They were the only team to play three games and win all of them. The Golden Knights have all of the momentum in the world right now.