The first full week of NHL play is in the books, and it’s been a wild one. Some teams that were expected to be great have come out flat, and some teams that were expected to be….not-so-great….have come out flying. Here’s a look at the some of the high and low points of the week, along with a few INSANE highlight reel plays to cap off your weekend.
THE GOOD
- It pains a Devils fan to say it, but the Rangers starting 5-0 was pretty remarkable. The team came out playing very solid hockey (against an admittedly weak group of opponents, the Devils excluded) - they were scoring goals, playing great defense, and just choking the life out of the everyone. I witnessed it first hand on Monday, take my word for it. The line of Dubinsky, Voros, and Zherdev has been a great spark for the team - but if their top line doesn’t start producing soon, the Rangers are going to start to struggle.
- Who beat Thomas Vanek with the goal-scoring stick in the offseason? Coming off a disappointing 07-08 campaign that didn’t live up to his $10 million contract, Vanek has 7 goals in 5 games for the Buffaslugs — including 2 shorthanded goals and 3 tallies on the powerplay. Lindy Ruff stated in the preseason that he wanted to give the 24-year-old a chance to become “the best 2-way player in the game.” Vanek’s gotten a good jump on that early in the season.
- While most of the Devils have looked annoyingly similar to last season (Offense is overrated), the one and only Martin Brodeur looked as consistent as ever in pocketing his 97th career shutout on Thursday. It was an ugly victory for the Devils, but I’ll take them how I can get them, and Marty gets within 6 of Terry Sawchuck’s career shutout record.
- Who doesn’t love a good come-from-behind victory? If you’re a Pens fan, skip ahead, you won’t like this very much. Thursday night was Round 1 of the Penguins/Capitals (and Crosby/Ovechkin) matchups for this year. The Penguins had given themselves a solid 3-0 lead by the middle of the second period. The Caps got one late in the period to make it 3-1. And then had 3 third period goals to come back and win 4-3, and their superstar did not even register a point. Can’t feel good to be a Penguin after that loss. But as an uninvested outsider, those are fun games to watch!
- Fabian Brunnstrom, the young Swedish forward, finally made his well-hyped debut in Dallas on Wednesday — and what a debut it was. The 23-year-old had a hat trick Wednesday, helping lead the Stars to a 6-4 win, and netting what would stand as the game winning goal. Brunnstrom became only the third player in NHL history to record a hat trick in his NHL debut.
THE BAD
- Marty Biron was fantastic in the playoffs last year. The Flyers came into this season as a popular pick for top of the Atlantic division, with a solid offense and a great goaltender. After 3 games, Biron’s goals against is 5.75 and his save percentage is under .900. I know the team’s defense is beat up, but there’s just no excuse for playing that poorly. If he doesn’t shape up soon the Flyers are going to find themselves in a hole that looks a lot like the one they were in when they finished in last place two years ago.
- Barry Melrose has yet to win a game down in Tampa Bay. Not to place all of the blame on The Mulleted Wonder, as the team gave up an average of 40-something shots a game in their first three contests and were so desperate for defensive help they signed Marek Malik to a one-year deal this week. Not to say I told you so, but signing every free agent forward and shipping off all of your talented defenseman isn’t seeming like such a great plan now, is it?
- I saw parts of two games in Atlanta this week. The entire lower bowl of their arena looked like it had maybe 300 people in it. Maybe. I’d like to think the upper deck is booming with fans, but it certainly didn’t sound like it. What a shame.
- Denis Savard was fired as the Blackhawks coach after only 4 games, opening the door for former Avs coach Joel Quenneville to step behind the bench as a replacement. The Blackhawks struggled out of the gate, going 0-3 before finally recording a 4-1 victory against the Coyotes on Wednesday — barely 12 hours before Savard was axed. The organization has set extremely high standards for their club this year (probably too high for a group of very young players), and the firing was clearly meant to send a message. Time will tell if this was the right move.
- Rick DiPietro had surgery this offseason on his hip and his knee. He appeared to be ready to start the season for the Islanders - a team that this year, more than ever, needs him to be solid in order to be competitive - but mysteriously didn’t start the team’s season and home openers. The Islanders were silent about the netminder’s condition, playing him as a backup, but it was fairly clear he was not available to play. The whole situation was a little bizarre, and served as a distraction to an already ailing Islanders team. DiPietro was back in the lineup Saturday night — we’ll see how long his health holds up.
- Lastly, and on a much more serious note, 19-year-old Alexei Chereponov, a Rangers prospect playing in the KHL, collapsed on the bench during a game Tuesday and was unable to be revived. All hockey relevance aside, this is an unbelievable tragedy. I can only hope the KHL takes the time to seriously reevaluate the emergency medical care they have available in their arenas. RIP, Alexei.
THE AMAZING
Martin Havlat (lovingly known in some circles as Mr. IR) scored an unbelievable goal the other night against the Coyotes to jumpstart the Blackhawks first victory.
Please ignore my Devils fandom. 
Travis Zajac’s pass is ridiculous, and Zach Parise is just awesome.
I have no idea how Antero Niittymaki grabbed this. Absolutely incredible. Too bad the Flyers still haven’t won 
And just for fun, a heavyweight battle between Riley Cote and Eric Godard from this weeks Flyers/Penguins matchup.
Welcome back to hockey season!
