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East coast of the States is feelin' that colder weather start to creep & the area's action on the ice can sense the fevers arise. Columbus is stuffed with a cold; Boston feels dominant symptoms; and Pittsburgh & New York feel the heat flashes.
Just as the train started going forward in Columbus, it has derailed off the tracks to a brutal collision with losing. Blue Jackets started the campaign 3-2-0 including a win over the Rangers before going on to lose 13 of their last 14 games. Blue Jackets are ridin' a nasty 9 game losing streak, two shy of matching the Sharks' season high losing streak. They have been outscored 38 to 24 on the streak and are averaging 4 goals/against across the skid.
After ending last season with the third lowest amount of team wins, this is a dreaded start to the season for Columbus as we enter the final full week of November. At this point, it looks like they will be in a basement fight across the campaign with the Sharks to determine which squad will have the worst record. I didn't think San Jose would have legitimate comp in that regard- but here we are. Jackets have already reached a difficult crossroads. The best players they pay the most coin for refuse to produce to the level their contracts pay out. The blame goes all around in Columbus.
Highest paid player Johnny Gaudreau is struggling to start the season after what was a letdown of a first season in Columbus; a year after scoring 40 goals in Calgary. Gaudreau has only mustered 2 goals and 5 assists across all 19 games. He has posted one of the worst shot percentages on the team and in the league compared to other first-line players. The cat lost the spark he had in that final season with the Flames, and has a free-agent contract that is starting to look to be a mistake for Columbus. Second highest paid, defenseman Zach Werenski is in the same sinking boat with Gaudreau. The fact Werenski is the third-highest paid defenseman in the league is quite disgusting. That contract looks nasty the second year in. Werenski is averaging a -5 plus/minus for November and has been lackluster on the defensive. His assist work in the last handful of games is the only thing he has going good. Besides that, he has been lackluster: the Jackets need a lot more from him.
It's already bad the top two paid guys aren't performing, it's even worse that the guy many thought was the next best player in the league isn't performing. Blue Jackets made Patrik Laine a healthy scratch for the first time in his career after what has been a rollercoaster season for the once promised star. Laine struggled in the first three games of the season prior to an illegal hit forcing him out of action for nine games with a concussion. Since returning from the concussion, Laine has been playing very poorly with many misfeeds of the puck; miscues that led to big time goals given up; and lackluster play in close games. Coach Pascal Vincent thinks the move to bench him will spark his chip in the core. Laine wasn't pleased with the decision, maybe Vincent will get things right with Laine. Or he may be placed on the trade block. Straight off the tracks.
If the Blue Jackets want to climb out of the basement and get back on the right track to end 2023, they will need to do it against the Eastern Conference. Out of the Jackets' 19 games left until January; 16 of them are against Eastern Conference teams. They currently have a 2-8-2 conference record. They will look to stop being a steppin' stone for their comp and instead use the slate of games to rescue them from the basement. First they need to get a damn win to snap their losing streak. Then they can go from there.
There is having a dominant goaltender & then there is having TWO dominant goaltenders. We have seen that in small doses across the life of hockey. Chris Osgood and Dominik Hasek settin' force fields in hockeytown. Terry Sawchuk and Johnny Bower delivering the Maple Leafs what would have been their only glory (for now) in revolutionary fashion. Having two dynamic tendys can be one of the most dangerous cards to play for a hockey team with championship aspirations. History tells that to be nothing but fact.
The Bruins have been honored to be suited that card on multiple occasions. Boston rode a solid duo of Andy Moog and Reggie Lemelin from '87 to '93 that saw the team reach the Stanley Cup Final twice. Bruins then got blessed with the legendary duo of Tim Thomas and Tuukka Rask that helped elevate the club to the 2011 Stanley Cup- the Bruins only Cup win since 1972. Here they are again, maybe with perhaps the best duo of 'em all: Jeremy Swayman & Linus Ullmark.
We remember last season, when the Swayman-Ullmark duo was part of the winningest team in NHL regular season history. Ullmark was the Vezina award winner (best goalie) with a lights-out record of 40-6 with a 1.89 goals/against per game. Swayman got the lighter tone of opportunities but managed to go a smooth 24-6 with 4 shutouts. The duo is back to action in the same dominating fashion in the new campaign, but the roles may have changed a bit from last season.
Swayman is off to an electric start & has split the load exactly down the middle with Ullmark as they both have eight starts each. Swayman has been STELLAR and even better than Ullmark as he leads the league with a 1.73 goals/against average and leads in save percentage (.941%). Are we seeing a shift in value for the Bruins' net? I hate to play the compare game with a duo, but I think it's quite clear that Swayman will take the higher quantity of games started and time on the ice. Revert back to the power duo: these two cats are 13-1-2 to start the campaign and 77-13-7 collectively across the last 98 games. They are really beginning to make claims for the proclaimed top goalie duo of all-time.
That's no cap nor no exaggeration. This duo is unreal in the net. Sure, they have quite the unit around them, but they are no Gilles Villemure and Eddie Goacomin. Ullmark and Swayman are far superior, individually and collectively. The grit they each show in different aspects of puck and comp is the reason they remain stellar tendys. I have a clip of both cats showin some grit across different bouts last week. Swayman let off some spice and asked for smoke, while Ullmark put the pads to air to challenge and stump a puck handler in open space:
video via B/R Open Ice//X
video via Conor Ryan//X
You gotta love when your tendy gets active and gritty with minutes left in regulation in a tied affair. Eggin' on the opps to let loose some smoke... gotta love the scrappiness. On the other hand, you have Ullmark pullin' a big time awareness move to velo himself to the puck, clearin' the zone; stumpin' a 2-v-1; and creatin' a fast break for his skaters. Both tendys give the Bruins it all. Pure double-trouble for offenses across the league. I am excited to see the elevation of Swayman, and ultra excited to see this power duo in the net continue to rise.
The Mighty Power Rangers: New York must have to use an advanced system to keep the ice frozen in the Garden with how hot the Rangers are playing. Then again, the Rangers played 7 road games in their past 11: their heat spreads wide. Rangers are the hottest squad in North America with a 9-0-1 record in the their last ten games & have won 10 of their last 11 games to start the campaign.
Can't draw up their season start any better if you are head coach Peter Laviolette and co. Losing to the Blue Jackets is their only flaw... that was the second game of the season so; far less embarrassing (beat them in shootout the other day). Rangers have the fourth highest point differential and lead the league in many categories as a unit. They have punished teams in the Pacific and are 5-1-0 against the Eastern Conference.
Rangers are gettin' it done with efficiency; execution; and chemistry. They rank 2nd in the league in power-play percentage; 3rd in shot percentage; and 10th in penalty kill percentage. The defensive pairs are aligned well; I like what K'Andre Miller and Jacob Trouba have brought to the table, production wise as the first pairing. Very under the radar type of pairing, one that puts in solid minutes and can lay some wood when needed. Goose and Lindgren have dropped some solid production as the second pairing. All around solid defense mixed with elite goaltending. I rave about Ullmark and Swayman, but Jonathan Quick and Igor Shesterkin are makin' quite the duo in the net in their own right.
New York has a solid slate of comp on the schedj as they look to add to their conference record playin' some of the best squads that the Atlantic have to offer. Those opponents will look to stump the Rangers before they start really streakin' in the win column. Like Boston, this Rangers' team is a team that when in the winnin' groove; will stay in the winnin' groove.
The Kings sit with the Stars in third place atop the Western Conference at 10-3-3 gettin' there by being straight assasins on the road. Kings remain undefeated on the road at 7-0-0 with dubs in Vegas; Philly; Ottawa; and Toronto. Their highest win streak on the season, four, saw all the games be won on the road.
Kings have outscored the home teams 33-12, playin' their best puck in all fashions on the road. As they claw up to catch ground on the Canucks and Knights in the Pacific, they look at the schedj and their road results with a giant smile. Kings play eight of their next twelve games on the road, including another 4 consecutive game road trip to start December. Los Angeles has no problem with the travel, sh** at this point they probably would rather have it over playin' in the Staples Center. The Kings have their eyes on the Colorado Avalanche's NHL record long road winning streak of 15 that they set in the first game of the season this season. Can the Kings get there? The likes of the Knights; Ducks; and Rangers are lined up to take a crack on making sure that they don't.
The Penguins have a strong squawk again... at least of late that it is. Pens start the season a mediocore 3-6-0 then flip the switch with a needed five-game winning streak to help them win six of eight to start the crawl back up the ladder in the Eastern Conference.
Pittsburgh outscored their opponents 25-8 across the winnin' streak with two shutouts & a ten-piece. The first line of Guentzel-Crosby-Rust has been playin' great, especially the 36 year old Sidney Crosby. The cat is tied-3rd in the league in goals (12) and has a +11 plus/minus that's 3rd best in the league among skaters. Year 19 and Crosby is still a productive machine to wheel the ship in the steel city. Evgeni Malkin is right behind him leadin' the second line and power-play. The duo is squawkin' again as they look to revenge missing the playoffs last year, which was the first time they did so since Crosby's rookie season in 2005-06.
They aren't out of their early season hole just yet as they dropped two big Metropolitan games against the Hurricanes and Devils that snapped their winnin' streak. Luckily, they avoided haywire with those two bad games bouncin' back with a massive shutout of the Golden Knights. They look to find more consistency winnin' & have a golden slate of games coming up to potentially elevate them up the ladder of the Eastern Conference. The tail end of November will tell us if the Penguins are back to a playoff contender or not.
I shall contiune to end every Sin-Bin Chatter with my latest Power Rankings and my favorite fight or highlight from the week(s). We had some solid tilts, but my jaw was dropped by a Tim Stützle game winner that you HAVE to see; if you haven't already. Peep Stutzy show some unreal hand-eye coordination to have James Reimer in a haze:
video via B/R Open Ice//X
It was so filthy that Reimer dodged it like it was a meteor. The pass was a straight up frozen-oop for Stützle to hammer home. Knarly f'n shot and for the OT winner... epic stuff. Peep the Power Rankings and tune yourself into some puck this week. Until the next:
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