Our journalist offers you his report on the first week of activities in the NHL.
Posted at 2:47 p.m.
Fleury would have booed
Without having read the news or watched the sports bulletins, it would have been unlikely that one exclaimed “Marc-André Fleury” to the question “Which NHL goalkeeper has so far allowed 11 goals in 4 periods of play? ? “. However, we would have been right to do so. At a time of year when the low number of games played justifies some aberrant statistics, the Quebecer finds himself with an efficiency rate of .776 and a goals against average of 8.37. On Saturday, he came out to boos from Minnesota Wild fans. “I would have booed myself too,” Fleury said with his usual repartee. False starts aren’t an anomaly in the future Hall of Famer’s career: Last season in Chicago, his stats were abysmal after four games, and he ended up having a very decent campaign.
Other false starts
Much has been made of the game of musical chairs that played out over the summer among NHL goaltenders. The first steps of some goalkeepers in their new semi-circle, however, do not go as they would have liked. In New Jersey, Vitek Vanecek was pitiful in his first start for the Devils, surrendering five times on 22 shots. Things went better for Jack Campbell when he was first introduced to the Edmonton Oilers, but after a win he was machine-gunned by the Calgary Flames on Saturday. He started the second period on the bench, victim of four goals in the first. Things are going better for Ilya Samsonov in Toronto (2-0-0) and Ville Husso in Detroit (1-0-0). The latter shut out the Canadian on his first start.
The Gaudreau effect will wait
The Columbus Blue Jackets have caused headaches for all observers who played the game of predictions before the start of the season. It was certain that a place in the playoffs would be difficult to obtain in the Metropolitan division, but would the arrival of Johnny Gaudreau allow the Jackets to cause a surprise? The magic will wait a little longer. The team’s first three games showed nothing exciting: three losses and barely five goals scored, none of them on the power play. To make matters worse, Patrik Laine will miss three to four weeks of action due to an injury suffered in the opening game.
A special player
Liam O’Brien is a special player. Those are words that haven’t been used often to describe the former Rouyn-Noranda Huskies tough guy. However, he achieved a relative feat last week, that of wearing the uniform of the Arizona Coyotes and not finding himself on the ice for any goal of the opponent. Already, the dogs of the desert find themselves exactly where they were expected, that is to say at the bottom of the classification, with two defeats in two games and already 12 goals allowed. The team also conceded a delusional total of 96 shots. In these circumstances, O’Brien, who was still only employed for ten minutes per game, gets away with a star in his notebook, he who shows one of the best defensive statistics of his camp – at the scale of a mediocre club, of course.
A furious gamer
At the other end of the spectrum, let’s salute J. T. Miller. After the Vancouver Canucks lost to the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday, he was furious. In two games, his team squandered 3-0 and 2-0 leads before losing each time. “I was on the ice for all eight goals. I am rather frustrated, ”he cursed. Verification made, the center player indeed attended from the ice the five goals of the Edmonton Oilers, Wednesday, then the three of the Flyers. One of those goals was scored in an empty net, and three others on the power play. In return, the opponent scored shorthanded twice. Of course, these failures do not rest solely on Miller. But we suspect that this is not the way he would have liked to celebrate his new contract of seven years and 56 million.
Matty Beniers unleashed
Not surprisingly, Matty Beniers has already established himself as a pillar at the Seattle Kraken. At 19, he’s one of the hottest rookies this season in the NHL, and he was quick to get going. After three games, he already has four points. What’s most impressive about him is that he’s not only scored points every night, he’s now done so in 12 of his 13 career NHL games. He is the Kraken’s third most used striker (18 min 8 s), behind Alex Wennberg and Oliver Bjorkstrand.
Michael Stone unleashed
Who is the Calgary Flames’ current leading scorer? That’s obviously Michael Stone. With three points in two games – all obtained on Saturday night, in fact – the defensive-minded defender shares the Flames lead with Nazem Kadri. Since a season of 36 points in 75 games while lining up with the Arizona Coyotes, Stone has settled for 47 points in 225 games while playing sporadically in Calgary. Above all, he made himself famous, despite himself, being left out 71 times last season. That’s right: he only played 11 games in 2021-22 without ever being injured or surrendered to the American League. His patience was rewarded with a new one-year contract. He is now taking advantage of the absence of Oliver Killington in defense to see action and, as we can see, to collect a few points.