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All kinds of noise on the ice as we roll into November! Stars are findin' their grooves; Ducks are quackin'; and tectonic plates move across the Eastern Conference with a shake in the standings. The even craziest thing? The Sharks got a dub!
Finally... the Sharks... have won! Sharks avoid standing alone as losers in the history books. Sharks beat the Flyers 2-1 to snap their 11-game losing streak to start the season. The losing streak matched the longest to start a season in NHL history- luckily they can say they didn't see 12.
It's been a dreadful start for the Sharks. A dreadful month of October that turned into pure devastation to start November. They haven't just been losin'- they have been gettin' SMOKED on the grill. Baited; hooked; and cooked. San Jose gave up ten goals in consecutive losses to start November, being outscored by the Canucks and Penguins 20-3. Thankfully for Sharks nation, those Ls were enough to springboard the Sharks to their first dub as they took their embarrassing losses and used them to win the next game against Philly. Good riddance too.
Sharks losing 20-3 and then topping it off by having the worst start in NHL history would have been killer for the club. Now, don't go thinkin' that the win just turns around their season. They have more climbin' to do. Snapping the streak was major though, no team wants to stand alone in the loser page of the history books. Now the dreaded zero is gone; now they can focus on stringin' together some winnin' momentum. They have a scrap in the basement on Thursday versus the strugglin' Oilers. A big opportunity for them to win two in a row to start a heatwave. San Jose has time to avoid a historically bad season.
Sharks are going to want to take a page outta the Ducks' book to spark their turnaround. Anaheim didn't start 0-11-1 but they did start 1-4 and had struggles off the first horn of the season. They flipped the switch by sparkin' a six game winnin' streak to catapult them back up the standings in the Western Conference.
The rough start had a theme of the Ducks losin' one-score games. A theme of the offense not being productive enough. They changed both those themes during their winnin' streak. Anaheim went 3-0 in overtime; won 4 games by one-score; and scored 26 goals in those six wins. They had wins over the Bruins and Golden Knights. Ducks were 4-0 against the Metropolitan before the shutout loss to the Penguins that snapped the win streak. A big time win streak to flip their momentum bar, being led by Frank Vatrano; Ryan Strome; and Mason McTavish.
Vatrano made big impact scoring a point in four of the six dubs that included a hatty against the Flyers and two assists in support that helped beat the Golden Knights. Frankie V has been playin' with ferocity on the O and in puck defense. Same to be said for McTavish, well the whole second line when you include Strome. McTavish has been skatin' with intent and has been clutch with his scoring opportunities late in those close games with three game winning goals during the winnin' streak against Vegas, Pitt, and Boston. Big time baller. Strome has been the one settin' those two cats up as he had 5 assists throughout the streak. Ducks fans gotta be lovin' that line.
Ducks still have a ways to go to secure some consistency if they want to keep rising in the Pacific. The early season win streak helps, now they gotta build off it. Anaheim needs to reduce the penalties as they rank third in PIM. The PK has been solid at 79.3% (middle of the pack) but, you don't need to get in a habit of being on the penalty kill repeatedly. Ducks also want to get better on the man advantage as they rank 17th in powerplay percentage. All in all, Ducks nation should be happy with their play and that winnin' streak. After starting 0-3 against top ten squads in Vegas; Dallas; and Boston- the Ducks showed they can still beat those good teams winnin' the next two opportunities that included handing the Knights their first regulation loss on the campaign. They have an easy dose of games coming up to keep climbin' the ranks. Lets see if the win streak was a fluke or if the Ducks are going to be mighty this season.
It's been rough ridin' on the slopes in Colorado as we roll into November. Avalanche witnessed three shutouts in four games including a brutal 7-nil ass whoopin' from the hands of the Golden Knights on the 4th. Despite startin' the campaign on a six game winning streak, the three shutouts have Avs (can't spell Aves they get insecure) fans freakin' out with whines and overreactions:
The four game stretch with the three shutties is quite embarrassing for a team that has ruled at the top of the Western Conference. Don't get me wrong. However, to immediately claim it will be the theme of the season is a pure whine. Cmon Mister Mile High Moose (gotta have a persona)! Settle down. The team won six in a row and are now coming off a 6-3 dub over the Devils. The season isn't in jeopardy- they just had a rough stretch. One they don't wish to repeat.
I question playin' tendy Alexandar Georgiev in ten of the eleven games to start the campaign. Georgiev ranks 29th among goalies in goals allowed a game (2.93) and has a .897 save percentage that ranks T-38th. Ivan Prosvetov has only one start, a game in which he won against the Blues, givin' up just one goal on 28 shots against. Poor coaching by Jared Bednar in that behalf. Needs to spread the goalie usage around, especially when you have Georgiev who has struggled at times this season.
Colorado's powerplay units need to step up as well. The penalty kill has been excellent with an 89.1 kill percentage and a league tie with 4 short handers. The powerplay hasn't mirrored that same production as it ranks 15th in the league and has mustered just 8 goals on the man advantage. They don't want to be a streaky team. That's a characteristic they haven't shown for awhile, don't want to start it back up now. Avalanche have a good slate of games coming up to help them get back on track and eliminate that poor stretch of games from their memory. Maybe even give their fans a chill pill in the process.
Avalanche have a pair against the Kraken; home games versus the Ducks and Blues; and road games against the well rounded Stars and Canucks coming up on the schedj. Good dose of comp to get them back to the tier they should be. Avs only significant wins are against the Kings; Canes; and Islanders. Adding the Stars and Canucks to that list will go a long way.
Chel has seen some epic royal families embrace the ice. The Howes. The Hulls. The Sutters. The Richards. More recently, the Sedins; the Statsnys; and the Staals. So many epic families. Now we get to add another name to the list: The Hughes.
Two defenseman and a center. Two Devils and a Canuck. Three Hughes. Playin' puck at the highest level runs in the Hughes family. Quinn has been unreal off the first horn manning the defense (and offense) for Vancouver. The eldest brother ranks 1st in the NHL in plus/minus; tied-1st in assists; and is tied-3rd in total points among ALL skaters. Quinn's impact on both ends of the ice has helped elevate the Canucks as a top team in the league going into November. It's been a surreal start for Quinn after being introduced as the 15th captain in Canucks' history at just 24 years old. I don't see him slowing down anytime soon with the level of poise he is showin' right now. Quinn has been straight money. The Hughes impact stretches to opposite sides of the northern hemisphere.
The younger Hughes bros, Jack (22) and Luke (20), are shreddin' the ice in Jersey for the red and black. Especially Jack. The middle bro has been just as good as the oldest on the offensive. Jack is tied with Quinn atop the assists leaderboard with 15; he is also tied in 3rd with 20 points; and is top three in powerplay points as well as powerplay points per game. Jack has created a big time powerplay duo with Jesper Bratt. Hopefully his shoulder injury gets healed quickly so he can return to his production on the ice for the Devils. New Jersey is already feelin' his absence. Check the tough hit to the boards Hughes took:
video via Rob Taub//X
Baby brother Luke is starting to blossom and get more comfortable at the highest level as a rookie. Luke's six assists ranks him top 20 among defenseman to start the campaign, creatin' scoring opportunities on the third defensive pairing for Jersey. Like his brothers, he enjoys makin' impact on the powerplay. Four of the six assists have come on the powerplay and so has his lone goal. Luke also doesn't spend too much time in the Sin-Bin. All three Hughes bros are disciplined. I love the progression of Luke thus far especially when averaging just 19:44 time on ice per game. Definitely more growth upon him, but he will blossom into a high level player like his older brothers are. What a family.
Guess who is heatin' up? That's right, AM34 has the ammunition loaded and is ready to spray at tendys in effort to elevate the Maple Leafs from what has been a difficult start to the campaign. Matthews now leads the league in goals with 13, markin' the feat with a league high hat trick total (3) and 4 powerplay goals (T-3rd most). Toronto is 4-1-1 in games that Matthews scores a goal.
After starting the season with two hat tricks in consecutive dubs, Matthews went cold to finish up October only scoring one goal as the Leafs went 3-3-1. He looks to have flipped the switch back over with a hot start to November. Matthews has 8 points in three games, with 6 goals; 2 assists; and a hatty. Unfortunately, the Maple Leafs are just 1-1-1 (1-2) in those games. You take away Matthews' production and the Leafs would be losing by a lot worse.
Can Auston Matthews keep up his hot scoring in November to help the Leafs find a positive train of success and confidence? They sure need it as they look to drop a statement that they run Canada with a home trifecta of Ottawa; Calgary; and Vancouver next up on the schedj. AM34 scoring goals is just good for hockey, man. We tune in to see which celly he will do next, cha heard!
Chel is heatin' up. Canucks and Kings are makin' moves in the Pacific along with the Ducks. The Bruins and Golden Knights continue their path of elite. The Atlantic is straight havoc. Just noise on noise as we roll into November. You already know I am keepin' my power rankings up to date with all the twist and turns. Check out my latest power rankings drop at the end. First, enjoy my fight of the week between Liam O'Brien and Nick Foligno. It's a beautiful tilt:
video via Charlie Roumeliotis//X
NHL Power Rankings (as of 11/6):
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