Week Ahead - Oct 8th to 14th

It’s been an up and down start for the Bruins - well, more down then up. They opened the season being absolutely bowled over by the defending cup champs, going down 7-0. Then they were in Buffalo the next night and took down a rested Sabres team 4-0. The Sabres did soundly outshoot the Bruins in that game, but it mostly came in the third period when the game was already out of hand.

Tuukka Rask didn’t even make it half way through the first game, pulled just after the 27 minute mark after allowing five goals on 19 shots. Jaroslav Halak didn’t exactly put up a spectacular performance in relief with two goals in 18 shots, but then posted the shutout in Buffalo.

Brad Marchand is currently sitting at a 100% assist rate, with three of the four being primary assists.

The Flyers opened the season up with a pair of 5-2 games on the road. First a win in Vegas, then a loss in Colorado.

With Neuvirth on IR indefinitely due to a groin injury, it was Brian Elliott taking both the win and the loss in the net. It is a back to back situation for the Flyers, and it’s reasonably certain they’ll roll out whoever their first choice is against the Sharks. Is it Elliott’s job until Neuvirth is back, or is his rope short enough that a rough game against the Avs hands the next game to Calvin Pickard?

The scoring has been spread out for the Flyers so far, with 13 different players making the score sheet through their two games. I gave Claude Giroux the “hot” marker for having points in both games so far, but really - we all know the only truly hot Flyer right now is Gritty.

Three for three with opponents who have split their opening two games this week, though the Kings fared a bit better by picking up the extra point in an overtime loss to San Jose.

Where they haven’t fared as well is in the early possession numbers. Long known as a truly dominant team when it comes to controlling the puck, the Kings slid from the top of the league last season to about even, and look like they might dive even further this season. The currently sit at just over 40% of the 5 on 5 shot attempts, and just under 40% when you look at the score and venue adjusted numbers. You might think that those numbers could be skewed from facing the Sharks to start their season (and it may well be), but the second game was against Detroit and they ended up well below 50% in that one as well.

With Jonathan Quick on IR after sustaining a groin injury during practice on Saturday, it’s a tandem of Jack Campbell and Peter Budaj carrying the load. Campbell presumably gets to run with the net for now and that’s likely who Ottawa will see, but it’s possible they give Budaj the nod on Saturday to let Campbell (who has a grand total of 8 NHL games played) go into Toronto rested.