Nine squares that weren’t on my bingo card

Ah! If only I had access to an almanac of the future, like Marty McFly in Back to the Future, to be able to bet on upcoming sporting events. This start to the season in the National League would have been very profitable. Here are nine squares that weren’t on my bingo card last month.

Even better Bruins

After the departures of Patrice Bergeron, David Krejči and Dmitry Orlov, I expected a natural regression from the Boston Bruins. Especially after their record-breaking 135-point season. It is not so. The Bruins are even more dominant than last season. Their file? 9-0-1. How many goals allowed per game? Less than two. Even more remarkable, they prevented the opponent from counting on a numerical superiority in 97.4% of cases. No team in NHL history has maintained a 90% percentage over an entire season.

Surprise in Anaheim

Which player was named the best rookie of the month for October: Logan Cooley, Adam Fantilli or Connor Bédard? None of the above. The honor was given to Lukas Dostal. Who is it ? A little-known goaltender for the Anaheim Ducks, who had been shuttling between the NHL and the American League for two years. The Czech is currently among the top 10 goaltenders in the league for wins, goals against average, save percentage and goals saved. Will it last? Probably not. At least, not if the Ducks continue to spend so much time on the penalty kill. It is by far the team with the worst penalty differential in the NHL (-15).

Alex Barré-Boulet on the Lightning’s first line

On October 10, Alex Barré-Boulet was placed on waivers. Nobody asked for it. Today, here he is to the left of Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov, within the first line of the Tampa Bay Lightning. The experiment has been going on for six games, and it’s going well. The Quebecer scored five points in this sequence. He even gets playing time on the second unit on the power play. A great audition to prove to his bosses that he has his place as a starter in the National League.

Vasilevskiy absent? No problem

A few days before the start of the season, the Lightning learned that their star goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy would have to miss two months to deal with an injury. General manager Julien BriseBois found himself under great pressure to find a replacement. Rather than making a trade, he gave a chance to an American League veteran acquired during the summer, Jonas Johansson. A month later, BriseBois once again comes across as a genius. Could you differentiate between Vasilevskiy’s stats last season and Johansson’s stats this season?

Best counter, despite everything

Frank Vatrano of the Anaheim Ducks leads the NHL in two categories: minor penalties and… goals! An astonishing double for a winger who has never scored 25 goals or spent more than 70 minutes in the penalty box in an entire season. There’s a bit of luck in all this. His ratio of shots converted into goals (25%) is significantly higher than his career average (10%). Playing with two offensive-minded forwards, Ryan Strome and Mason McTavish, should help him set personal bests this season.

Kotkaniemi unblocks

Jesperi Kotkaniemi of the Carolina Hurricanes just finished a 10-game streak averaging one point per game. It had only happened once in his career, last winter, and it was then largely due to a five-point night. Will it finally unlock, in its sixth season? His stats at 5v5 are encouraging, and he has plenty of room to improve on the power play (only one point in 26 minutes).

Dmitry Orlov running out of fuel

The most coveted defender on the free agent market has chosen to join the Hurricanes, one of the best teams in the NHL. It just might work, right? Well no. After finishing last season with 25 points in his last 30 games, here he is running out of fuel: 0-4-4, -9. Nothing that justifies his salary of 7.5 million.

Matthew Beniers at -11

Last season’s Calder Trophy winner is off to a disastrous start. No goals in 11 games, combined with a differential of -11. The problem ? Despite very generous playing time (18 minutes per match), he hardly generates any scoring opportunities at even strength. The disappointment of the second season hits hard.

The Senators fiasco

Finally, a box that certainly no one had on their bingo card: Evgenii Dadonov who cost the Ottawa Senators a first round pick. The club was punished for having sold the Russian forward to the Vegas Golden Knights two years ago, without forwarding the list of teams to which he refused to be traded. An inexplicable, unacceptable administrative error, and very costly for an organization seeking to return to the playoffs after a six-year drought. In addition, the Senators are without Shane Pinto for 41 games, due to a sports betting issue. Which gives me an idea for the rest of the season. A bingo card devoted entirely to the Senators. Hockey pockets infested with bedbugs? Joonas Korpisalo’s leggings eaten by moths? A forced trip to the Slush Puppie Center? I’m waiting for your suggestions!

*All statistics as of Friday November 3