NHL
ToHN Daily: Angst Over Terrible Start in Montreal; Hughes brothers hurt
The Montreal Canadiens have lost four straight to start the season, were buried 5-0 at home by the San Jose Sharks and, for a team that controlled play last season, they are getting 47.1% of score-and-venue-adjusted shot attempts during 5-on-5 play. It’s early, but not a lot of encouraging signs. Erik Karlsson and Timo Meier both had three points (1 G, 2 A) for the Sharks.
There’s panic in Montreal.
Canada Hockey Now:
Vancouver: Brock Boeser played but Quinn Hughes did not at Buffalo.
Montreal: The Canadiens are still seeking their first win and just got embarrassed on home ice by the San Jose Sharks.
Toronto: I tracked every Auston Matthews shift against the New York Rangers, his first game of the season and a game in which he tied a career high with 16 shot attempts.
Calgary: Darryl Suter is shuffling his lines like a card deck, and demanding more of his young players.
And welcome our San Jose colleague Sheng Peng to Canada. Sheng covers the San Jose Sharks. He was in Montreal on Tuesday, today he’s in Ottawa as his magical mystery tour of eastern Canada continues.
Save $10 and get a yearly pass to all four Canadian Hockey Now sites. Use coupon code “Maple Leafs” and get an ad-free experience and exclusive content to all of our Canadian sites. Click here. (Bring back the North Division?)
NHL News & National Hockey Now:
New Jersey: Jack Hughes suffered an upper-body (perhaps shoulder) injury in a 4-2 win against Seattle.
Colorado: Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar were both minus-5 in a 6-3 loss at Washington.
Washington: Evgeny Kuznetsov is leading the way for Washington and the Capitals thumped the Colorado Avalanche Tuesday.
Florida: The kids lifted the Panthers to a victory in the Battle of Florida.
N.Y. Islanders: Ilya Sorokin and Oliver Wahlstrom led the Islanders to a win over Chicago.
Minnesota: The Wild’s top line of Joel Eriksson Ek, Kirill Kaprizov, and Mats Zuccarello were outstanding in a 6-5 overtime victory vs. Winnipeg.
Edmonton: A third-period surge lifted the Oilers to a 6-5 win against Anaheim.
AROUND THE RINK
Vegas: Mark Stone is injured but will not require surgery. Currently between “day-to-day” and “week-to-week”.
N.Y. Islanders: One of the greatest goal-scorers ever, Mike Bossy, has announced that he is battling lung cancer.
Buffalo: The Sabres, expected to be competing with the Arizona Coyotes for last-place overall, are 3-0.
Jonathan Dahlen’s first two NHL goals
No mistaking whose goal that was 😜
Jonathan Dahlen scores his first AND second NHL goals in the first. pic.twitter.com/IevNzjZkjt
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) October 19, 2021
Lucas Raymond’s first NHL goal for Detroit.
FIRST NHL GOAL. FIRST NHL CELLY.
Big time congrats to Lucas Raymond‼️ #NHLFaceOff pic.twitter.com/TgoAkjy6Aw
— NHL (@NHL) October 20, 2021
Anton Lundell’s first NHL goal for Florida.
THE GOAL 🚨
THE CELLY 🔥THAT is how you score your first @nhl goal!!! pic.twitter.com/i6pNJixCEf
— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) October 20, 2021