By Canadian Press

NHL Notebook: Senators, Canadiens and Canucks among league’s early surprises

Oct 17, 2018 | 1:00 PM

The Toronto Maple Leafs and Winnipeg Jets entered the NHL season as the only perceived “sure things” when it came to Canadian playoff teams.

The Calgary Flames, with a new head coach and a roster overhaul, and the Edmonton Oilers, keen to rebound after a miserable campaign, fell into the second tier of clubs with post-season potential.

The country’s other three franchises?

Forget it. No way they’d be playing into the spring.

There’s still a good chance that ends up being the case, but the Ottawa Senators, Montreal Canadiens and Vancouver Canucks are proving to be among the league’s surprises as the 2018-19 schedule flips to its third week.

International Spotlight

P.A.'s Howe one of 4 Sask. born players named to Canada's World Junior roster

11h ago

National

Ottawa to remove 30% investment cap for Canadian pension funds

15h ago

Budget woes

Golf and curling centre faces grim season without financial boost

18h ago

Dogged by negative headlines over a long stretch that culminated with the trade of captain and star defenceman Erik Karlsson on the eve of training camp, Ottawa sits with a surprising 3-2-1 record thanks to a young roster that doesn’t seem to know or care it isn’t supposed to be this competitive or entertaining this soon.

Sure, the advanced statistics don’t suggest the Senators will be able to maintain this level — Ottawa’s even-strength shot differential is near the bottom of the league and goalie Craig Anderson was tied for the most shots faced ahead of Wednesday’s action.

But sophomore defenceman Thomas Chabot is second in NHL scoring among blue-liners with eight points, while rookie counterpart Maxime Lajoie, a 2016 fifth-round pick and relative unknown until this season, is third with seven.

And then there’s winger Brady Tkachuk — the No. 4 selection at June’s draft — who has three goals and three assists in just four games. Ottawa got some bad news Wednesday, however, when it was revealed Tkachuk will be out about month with a torn ligament in his leg.

“You’re starting to see these guys get a little more confident,” Anderson said of Ottawa’s youngsters after Monday’s 37-save performance that matched his age in a 4-1 victory over Dallas. “They’ve just got to stick with the program.”

Senators head coach Guy Boucher, known much of his career for preferring a defensive setup, deserves a lot of credit for letting his players be creative offensively and express themselves.

“The message in here is, ‘Let’s go get it. Why not? We have nothing to lose,’” said Ottawa veteran forward Matt Duchene.

Meanwhile in Montreal, little was also expected from the Canadiens after dealing captain Max Pacioretty to Vegas right before camp.

But a healthy Carey Price in goal, an emphasis on speed, and relentless puck pursuit on display since opening night saw Montreal (3-1-1) pick up a pair of impressive wins over Pittsburgh — 5-1 and 4-3 in a shootout — before blowing the doors off Detroit 7-3 ahead of Wednesday’s visit from St. Louis.

“The game is getting quicker, so you adapt and you say, ‘What can be most successful for us?’” Canadiens head coach Claude Julien said. “That’s what we’ve done this year.”

The pre-season outlook in Vancouver wasn’t much different, but rookie Elias Pettersson breathed new life into the Canucks. The 19-year-old centre had five goals and three assists in five games before suffering a concussion when he was slammed to the ice by Florida defenceman Michael Matheson over the weekend.

Without their phenom, Vancouver (4-2-0) picked up a 3-2 overtime victory in Pittsburgh on Tuesday — the Canucks’ third straight on the road — with Brock Boeser scoring his first goal of the season 34 seconds into the extra period.

“We have the next-man-up mentality,” Boeser said. “That’s what we need throughout the year and moving forward.”

It’s no doubt a small sample size, but Ottawa, Montreal and Vancouver have given fans in their cities some early hope.

RECORD BREAKER

Oilers captain Connor McDavid became the first player in NHL history to score or assist on each of his team’s first nine goals in a season.

The superstar centre was in on Edmonton’s first four goals in Tuesday’s 5-4 road victory over Winnipeg to establish the new mark in a game where the Oilers rallied from a 4-1 deficit to pick up their second victory of the season.

Just don’t ask McDavid to be happy about having to carry the team on his back.

“I’m not overly proud of it,” he said of the record. “I don’t think it’s a stat we should be proud of either.”

MATTHEWS INCHING TOWARDS HISTORY

Speaking of records, Toronto centre Auston Matthews leads the NHL with 16 points (10 goals, six assists) and has seven consecutive multi-point games to open the season.

He’s just the fifth player in league history to accomplish that feat, joining Mario Lemieux (1992-93), Kevin Stevens (1992-93), Mike Bossy (1984-85) and Wayne Gretzky (1983-84).

Lemieux actually did it in 12 straight games, while Stevens — Super Mario’s linemate back in 1992-93 — had at least two points in eight consecutive outings that season.

—

Follow @JClipperton_CP on Twitter

Joshua Clipperton’s weekly NHL notebook will be published every Wednesday

Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press