After finishing last season last in the Western Conference, the Avalanche hired Hall of Famer and former franchise great Patrick Roy as head coach. He had no NHL coaching experience, though he did coach in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League for several years. The team then won the draft lottery and chose Nathan MacKinnon first overall.
It seemed as if it would be another down year for a franchise that hadn’t made the playoffs since 2010. Think again.
Colorado is off to a 6-0 start, allowing one goal per game (first in the NHL) and scoring more than three per game (eighth). The roster boasts 11 different players who have scored a goal — some teams haven’t scored 11 goals, period. The 18-year old MacKinnon has seven points and has lived up to the high expectations that come with being the No. 1 pick. The Avalanche have beaten good teams, too (6-1 over the Ducks, 2-0 over the Bruins, 5-1 over the Capitals), so while this run might end soon, you can expect the Avalanche to stay in the playoff hunt, perhaps even battling for the Central Division title.
(Last week’s ranking in parentheses)
1. Sharks (3):Â Started out 7-0 last season and are one win shy of matching that. Also have impressive wins at Vancouver and at St. Louis.
2. Avalanche (5): No one expected a 6-0 record. What’s more impressive is Colorado, led by No. 1 goalie Semyon Varlamov, has allowed just six goals in six games.
3. Maple Leafs (8): Joffrey Lupul’s four-game goal-scoring streak was snapped Tuesday, but the Leafs kept rolling, beating the Wild 4-1 to improve to 6-1, atop the Atlantic Division.
4. Penguins (1):Â After a disappointing loss to the Panthers, the Penguins responded with wins over the Lightning and Oilers.
5. Blackhawks (7):Â They may not be blowing teams out, but the defending champs have won the close games, winning their past three by one goal.
6. Blues (2):Â They looked impressive in winning four of five on a season-opening homestand. The lone loss was a 6-2 wakeup call at the hands of the undefeated Sharks.
7. Red Wings (11):Â They have acclimated to the Eastern Conference just fine, with a 5-1 record in the conference … and an 0-1 record against the West.
8. Lightning (10):Â Ben Bishop seems to have firm control on the net in Tampa, posting a 4-0 record while not allowing more than two goals in a game for the surprising Lightning.
9. Bruins (4):Â The Bruins are 1-0 against the Eastern Conference and 2-2 against the West after losses to the Avalanche and Red Wings.
10. Canadiens (15):Â Montreal took care of business with three wins on a tough four-game Canadian road trip.
11. Ducks (13):Â Have reeled off four wins in a row, allowing three combined goals in the past three games. Jonas Hiler is 3-0 with a 1.30 goals against average and a .959 save percentage,
12. Canucks (6): Roberto Luongo is 3-3 with a .899 save percentage and a 2.83 goals against average. If only they could have traded him…
13. Coyotes (22): After allowing 10 goals in two games, Phoenix has won three of four while allowing 10 goals combined.
14. Islanders (9): Blew leads to the Predators and Sabres in losses, including three one-goal leads to a winless Sabres team at that time. Playoff teams don’t do that.
15. Senators (14):Â Finished a season-opening road trip 2-2-2. Now they get to come home to face the winless Devils.
16. Jets (12):Â Moving into the Western Conference was supposed to be difficult, but at 3-4, the Jets are turning heads.
17. Blue Jackets (16): Don’t blame their slow start on Sergei Bobrovsky, who’s pretty much kept Columbus in every game.
18. Flames (24): The Flames continue to surprise and still don’t have a regulation loss. All five of their games have been decided by one goal.
19. Kings (17):Â Jonathan Quick has been pulled from two games already and allowed three goals or more in four of six starts.
20. Wild (25):Â The Wild have been in five one-goal games, winning a pair of them, 2-1. They don’t score many goals, so that will be a common score for them.
21. Predators (28):Â Seven goals in two games for one of the worst scoring teams in the league. Now the question is: Can they keep up the offense going forward?
22. Hurricanes (21):Â When you start the season with five of seven games at home and go 1-4, you have no one else to blame.
23. Stars (20):Â Tyler Seguin is doing just fine in Dallas. He has seven points in five games, including a four-game point streak.
24. Capitals (18): At 2-4, Washington is no stranger to slow starts, having started out even worse last season before winning the division. But when two goalies each allow more than three goals a game, that’s a problem.
25. Devils (23): The Devils can’t score goals, and when they do, can’t hold onto leads. They’re the only winless team in the NHL.
26. Rangers (19): The Rangers have been outscored 25-9, are 30th in goals against and 27th in goals scored. It’s hard to believe they actually won a game.
27. Flyers (26):Â The coaching change from Peter Laviolette has resulted in one win and three losses. At 1-6, how long before Craig Berube gets canned?
28. Oilers (27): It may be a little too early to call it a lost season, but the Oilers are 1-5-1 and have allowed a league-high 32 goals – including six games of four goals or more.
29. Panthers (29):Â How in the world did this team beat the Penguins, 6-3?
30. Sabres (30):Â The Sabres finally got into the win column, with a come-from-behind 4-3 win over the Islanders on Tuesday.