{"id":214551,"date":"2025-10-10T15:19:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T15:19:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/214551\/"},"modified":"2025-10-10T15:19:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T15:19:13","slug":"knee-jerk-reactions-to-the-nhl-seasons-early-games-and-one-big-faceplant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/214551\/","title":{"rendered":"Knee-jerk reactions to the NHL season\u2019s early games \u2014 and one big faceplant"},"content":{"rendered":"

Red Light newsletter\u00a0\ud83c\udfd2\u00a0| This is\u00a0The Athletic\u2019s\u00a0hockey<\/a>\u00a0newsletter.\u00a0Sign up here<\/a>\u00a0to receive Red Light directly in your inbox.<\/p>\n

Good morning, hockey folks. The NHL is back, with no games tonight, 16 games \u2013 and all 32 teams playing \u2013 on Saturday<\/a>, and one game on Sunday. Clearly, the schedule maker had plans on two of those nights as we all celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n

Way-too-early conclusions<\/p>\n

Yes, we\u2019re only three days into the 2025-26 season, and teams have played only a combined 21 games. But with every NHL team already getting into action, we\u2019ve strapped ourselves in<\/a>, \u201cClockwork Orange\u201d style, and have been able to get a snippet of insight into what\u2019s happening all around the league.<\/p>\n

A small snippet, sure, but it\u2019s enough that we can squeeze some insights out of what\u2019s unfolded. Here\u2019s what you may have missed so far \u2026<\/p>\n

The best team in the league is \u2026 well, we have four tied at 2-0-0 and only two of them are who you\u2019d expect.<\/p>\n

The two-time defending champion<\/a> Florida Panthers made short work of an easy early schedule by beating the sad-sack Blackhawks and Flyers, although without Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk, the Panthers put up only five goals combined in the two games.<\/p>\n

(It\u2019s a fair question where Florida will find offense this year, although its regular season really doesn\u2019t matter that much, given it can do damage from any seed.)<\/p>\n

The Avalanche are also, unsurprisingly, undefeated thus far, taking out the Kings on Tuesday and the Mammoth last night.<\/p>\n

More surprisingly, the Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins \u2013 two teams everyone had earmarked for the draft lottery \u2013 are on a heater, having beaten the Rangers, Islanders, Capitals and Blackhawks already.<\/p>\n

OK, not exactly a Murderer\u2019s Row of Cup-contending opponents, but still, we\u2019re betting you didn\u2019t have Penguins fourth-liner Justin Brazeau (he of three goals so far) and Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov (who\u2019s somehow averaging nearly 24 minutes a game) as two of the early standouts.<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh is a fun story, but the Penguins lack the depth<\/a> to keep this mini-run going, especially once they start their anticipated roster selloff.<\/p>\n

Boston, on the other hand, could surprise a little this season after last year\u2019s complete meltdown. The Bruins may not score much, but if Jeremy Swayman keeps stopping everything like this, they could grind out a lot of low-scoring games this season to get closer to respectability.<\/p>\n

The Atlantic Division is going to be a real battle this year.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\n The Blackhawks are as bad as expected through two games, both losses. (Rich Gagnon \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The worst team is \u2026 Chicago. The Blackhawks are the only team to have lost two games so far, so we\u2019ll go with them. This is not surprising at all<\/a> and likely a sign of things to come, as they pursue another No. 1 pick to play with Connor Bedard<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Those odds improve if they keep getting outshot by an average of 35-21 in games the rest of the way. Godspeed to Spencer Knight and Arvid S\u00f6derblom, who should be getting paid by the save this season.<\/p>\n

The leading scorers are \u2026 headed by Vegas Golden Knights captain Jack Eichel, who\u2019s having a good week. He has a big shiny new contract<\/a> and was the NHL\u2019s first player to six points thanks to a four-point night over the Kings in Game 1 and a wacky tying goal from center ice last night in an OT win over San Jose:<\/p>\n

OH NO Jack Eichel scores off a bad bounce to tie the game with less than 2 minutes!!!!! \ud83d\udc80 pic.twitter.com\/ABZDdfNv4j<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 B\/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) October 10, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

After Eichel atop the Art Ross leaderboard:<\/p>\n

2. Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh): five points<\/p>\n

t-3. David Pastr\u0148\u00e1k (Boston): four points<\/p>\n

t-3. Pavel Dorofeyev (Vegas): four points<\/p>\n

t-3. Mark Stone (Vegas): four points<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s hoping you have them in your fantasy pool<\/a>.<\/p>\n

New contracts seem to be good luck charms, as Winnipeg\u2019s Kyle Connor potted a hat trick in a losing cause last night to sit second in NHL goal scoring, a day after he locked in as a Jet long-term<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The best goalie is \u2026 Wild netminder Filip Gustavsson, who\u2019s coming off a big shutout of the Blues<\/a> to open the season. He stopped 26 shots and 3.1 expected goals against in an impressive 5-0 win<\/a> in St. Louis last night, as Minnesota sets out to make a statement<\/a> that it\u2019s joining the contenders this season.<\/p>\n

Other strong starts<\/a> have come from Igor Shesterkin with the Rangers, Swayman in Boston, and a couple of young backups who are still Calder Trophy-eligible this year: Jakub Dobe\u0161 in Montreal and Art\u016brs \u0160ilovs in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n

The toughest start so far? John Gibson, who was pulled after allowing five goals on 13 shots<\/a> in his much-anticipated debut in Detroit last night. Ouch.<\/p>\n

The rookies to watch are \u2026 all over the place. Oliver Kapanen, the 22-year-old Habs freshman, became the first Calder-eligible player to net two goals with the winner<\/a> in last night\u2019s 5-1 victory over the Red Wings.<\/p>\n

Other rookies on the board with goals already: Harrison Brunicke (Pittsburgh, 19 years old), Matvei Gridin (Calgary, 19), Beckett Sennecke (Anaheim, 19), Jonathan Lekkerim\u00e4ki (Vancouver, 21) and ex-KHL star Max Shabanov (N.Y. Islanders, 25).<\/p>\n

The ice-time leader among rookies, meanwhile, is Detroit\u2019s Axel Sandin-Pellikka, who, at just 20, looked really solid in nearly 23 minutes on the second pair in a losing cause. That\u2019s the kind of good news story the Red Wings need this year if they\u2019re going to climb the standings.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udca1 MirTrivia Question, early season edition<\/p>\n

Ageless wonder Sidney Crosby scored again last night. This was his 626th career goal, which is the fifth-most in NHL history with one franchise.<\/p>\n

So, which one-team legend who retired in 2009 did he pass with the goal?<\/p>\n

And can you name the four other players who have more goals than Crosby with one team?<\/p>\n

Answers below.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\n The Elias Petterssons aren\u2019t the first pair of same-named teammates in Vancouver \u2014 or even in the league. (Illustration: Dan Goldfarb \/ The Athletic; Jeff Vinnick \/ Getty, Darryl Dyck \/ AP Photo)<\/p>\n

Coast to coast<\/p>\n

One of the things we try to do here at Red Light \ud83d\udea8 is direct you to some of the best reads on the site every week. Here are some of our top hockey stories from the past few days.<\/p>\n

\ud83e\udd2f The Canucks somehow have three Petterssons and two of them have the same first name: Elias. Confusing. And, amazingly, it\u2019s not the first time this has happened in Vancouver. Rob Rossi has the story<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfd2 Sean Gentille was there for Gavin McKenna\u2019s home debut in the NCAA<\/a> as the hype keeps building for the sport\u2019s Next One.<\/p>\n

\ud83e\udd14 This story from Sean McIndoe<\/a> lists his \u201cAll-Intrigue\u201d roster for 2025-26, with one name from each team. Yes, we\u2019re intrigued.<\/p>\n

\ud83e\udebd Is patience running out for the Yzerplan in Detroit? A great read from Max Bultman<\/a> on what will be a fascinating season for the Red Wings this year.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfa4 \u201cThe Athletic Hockey Show\u201d crew digs into Jack Eichel\u2019s big extension in Vegas and starts projecting Canada and the United States\u2019 Olympic teams in the most recent two episodes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Jon<\/p>\n

\n Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper is one of the most interesting people in hockey. (Bruce Bennett \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The 25 names that matter this season<\/p>\n

Chris Johnston\u2019s latest column<\/a> lays out his 25 players, coaches and execs he\u2019ll be watching closely this season, with in-depth reasoning for each.<\/p>\n

The top five are names you might expect \u2013 Connor McDavid, Crosby, Penguins GM Kyle Dubas, projected 2026 No. 1 draft pick Gavin McKenna, and Mitch Marner \u2013 but there are some interesting calls further down the list, too.<\/p>\n

One such name is Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper, who is one of the most interesting people in the game to chat with and who checks in at No. 18:<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have a Lightning team with designs on reclaiming former glory. And they\u2019re doing it with Cooper behind the bench for a 13th straight season. That\u2019s an impossibly long time in a \u2018What have you done for me lately?\u2019 league and speaks to Cooper\u2019s unique ability to continually find new ways to bring the best out of his athletes and keep the program from growing stale.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no one else quite like him in hockey. He\u2019s also going to be behind Team Canada\u2019s bench at the Milan Olympics, which means for two weeks in February, he\u2019s going to have his decisions more closely scrutinized than the Prime Minister.\u201d<\/p>\n

Check out C.J.\u2019s full list<\/a> for a nice breakdown of the league\u2019s top newsmakers.<\/p>\n

Your MirTrivia Answer \u2026<\/p>\n

With a power-play goal in the second period last night, Crosby zipped up the all-time list past Joe Sakic, who had 625 goals in a storied career with the Quebec Nordiques \/ Colorado Avalanche franchise.<\/p>\n

The other four players still ahead of Crosby are iconic names:<\/p>\n

4. Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh, 690 goals
3. Steve Yzerman, Detroit, 692
2. Gordie Howe, Detroit, 786
1. Alex Ovechkin, Washington, 897<\/p>\n

Crosby is 38 years old and dipped to 33 goals last year, but catching Lemieux and Yzerman feels doable if he stays with the Penguins another two years. Howe and Ovechkin? Probably not.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udceb Love Red Light? Check out The Athletic\u2019s other newsletters<\/a>.<\/p>\n