70-30
After 4.5 periods, the Minnesota Wild were punishing the Colorado Avalanche.
The two teams that met in a seven-game slugfest in the first round last year were matched up for a doubleheader to start this season, a home and away that went Thursday in St. Paul and Saturday in Denver.
There was intrigue. There were headlines.
Game 1 was a blowout. The Wild ran up both the score (5-0) and the shot clock (48-16), causing Avs coach Patrick Roy to give a tense press conference after only the first game of the season and setting up an interesting rematch two nights later.
Where the same thing started happening.
By the time Jason Zucker made it 2-0 on Saturday night, Minnesota had outshot the Avs 70-30 over the course of a little shy of 92 minutes of hockey and looked absolutely dominating in doing so.
Now, the Wild are a good team. They have some of the brightest unheralded young stars going, with Mikael Granlund, Charlie Coyle and Jonas Brodin (who signed a huge new six-year deal on Sunday morning) all potential breakout stars.
They aren't expected to contend, but it's not impossible they knock off a Chicago or L.A. in the West in a seven-game series.
The real story here, however, is the Avs' start. Despite some great young talent of their own, Colorado is already in trouble. A 112-point team last season, they were last in the West in the preseason (1-5-2), had a poor off-season (more on that in a bit) and have been picked by every analytics nut out there to regress heavily.
Two games is two games, but because their record was built heavily on shooting and save percentages last season, the Avs are this year's version of last year's Leafs.
Only it apparently may not take until the end of the season to see them falter.
With Colorado in Toronto on Tuesday, expect to hear an awful lot about all that this week.
RISING
Patric Hornqvist, Pittsburgh. "Unreal in the 10-foot zone around the net." That was the assessment of TSN's Jamie McLennan of Sidney Crosby's newest winger, Patric Hornqvist, a dominant "corner man" who has gone from toiling in obscurity in Nashville to a starring role with the Penguins. Hornqvist had nine shots on goal (!) against the Leafs alone on Saturday and is quickly becoming an integral part of the best power play in the game. His career high with the Preds was 53 points last season; he very could be a point-a-game guy in Pittsburgh.
Ryan Strome, NY Islanders. The easy pick here would be linemate Brock Nelson, who has an early share of the scoring lead with six points in his first two games. Keep an eye out for Strome, however, as he's gone well under the radar for a fifth-overall pick (2011) and could explode this season as a 21-year-old after playing a depth role on the Island last season in only 37 games. The early returns are excellent.
Cory Schneider, New Jersey. Having finally shed Martin Brodeur, the Devils could be a lot better than people think. Schneider finally has a shot to be a No. 1 all on his own, and with the East wide open, he could carry this ragtag team far.
FALLING
The entire first line, Toronto. Last year, the Leafs' first unit carried their offence right up until the late-season collapse. Through two games (prior to Sunday's match against the Rangers), they're still labouring. The scary thing about the struggles of Phil Kessel and company is a regression of sorts is certainly possible. When Tyler Bozak was healthy, the line had a nearly 12-per-cent on-ice shooting percentage, second to only Anaheim's Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry duo. If that dips to even 10 or 10.5 per cent, it could mean all three see their points-per-game take a hit. (That's if the line even survives. It took only until Game 2 for Leafs coach Randy Carlyle to start giving Kessel minutes alongside Nazem Kadri.)
Daniel Brière and Brad Stuart, Colorado. Part of the previously mentioned poor off-season in Colorado. Brière and Stuart both struggled in the Avs' first two games, posting 31– and 41.6-per-cent possession ratings against the Wild. (Although they were much better in Game 2.) This team will miss Paul Stastny.
Luke Schenn, Philadelphia. Schenn is back to filling only a third-pair role in Philadelphia, but the Flyers are still getting beat up territorially with him on the ice. He's at less then 44 per cent possession and a minus-5 through three games. This is one Eastern team that has had a tough start and may be in for a very long year.
QUOTE
"To move the puck through the middle of the ice and distribute it as you enter the offensive zone is very important. You take a look at this group of centres on this team and say they're tailor-made for this type of setup." – New Penguins coach Mike Johnston
As the Penguins rolled into Toronto and rolled over the Maple Leafs, they were saying a lot of the same things you're hearing from Toronto's front office and others in the NHL right now: They want to be a puck-possession team.
The difference with Pittsburgh, however, is they've really got the personnel to pull it off, which is why it was so baffling under previous coach Dan Bylsma when the Pens were always a middling possession team.
Given the early returns, Johnston's system – built more toward making plays at speed than simply hustling to dumped pucks – will be more to Crosby's strengths, and Pittsburgh could overwhelm the weak teams in the East. They lost James Neal, Matt Niskanen and Brooks Orpik – leading many around the league to write them off – but this could be a team much better built to contend than a year ago.
Forget beating the Leafs – they handily outplayed the West's top team, Anaheim, in their opening game.
Fast and well organized is a tough combination to handle in this league.
ICYMI (IN CASE YOU MISSED IT)
1. Justin Bourne, a former pro player and the son of NHLer Bob Bourne, had a great piece at The Score on the unique way Sidney Crosby shoots the puck.
2. The Seattle Times explained how the Phoenix Coyotes were very nearly the Seattle Coyotes – even without a new arena in the Pacific Northwest. "Most people don't realize how close we were to actually getting an NHL team," former mayor Mike McGinn said. The whole thing remains in limbo, but the NHL's leadership still badly wants a team there.
3. Ville Leino, owner of one of the worst contracts in NHL history before he was bought out in the summer by Buffalo, signed in the KHL on Sunday. Leino returns overseas having scored 40 goals in six NHL seasons, for which he was paid $20-million (U.S.). Good for him.
4. Check out hockeystats.ca, created by Calgary's Greg Sinclair, one of several great new hockey sites out there. Who needs extraskater.com?