The Boston Bruins are off to a fiery start to begin the season.
The club is 3-1-0 and the top line is firing on all cylinders. That line has benefited from the productive starts of usual suspects Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron, but it's the third piece of the puzzle, David Pastrnak, who's impressed coach Claude Julien the most.
"He's a young player who's matured into the player we thought he was going to be," Julien said of Pastrnak following Thursday's win.
The 20-year-old picked up an assist on Bergeron's game-winner against the New Jersey Devils, and early on has tallied at least one point in each of the Bruins' first four games.
After being plucked 25th overall in 2014 and enjoying marginal success in 97 games spread over two seasons, Pastrnak appears to finally be unleashing his offensive prowess, recording four goals and seven points so far this season.
That said, Bergeron insists he's done much more than just provide offense.
"He's been tremendous from Game 1," Bergeron said, according to NHL.com's Eric Russo. "His compete level, but also the way he creates space for himself and for us, and he's using his speed as well. That's a perfect indication on that play that he used his body, but also he used his speed to kind of create some space for himself and keep the puck in their zone."
Pastrnak's production has likely been a relief for the Bruins brass, which has been waiting for his true potential to finally be realized.
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If you're in a 12-team league, chances are someone in your league is already hurting at the goaltender position. Having as many as four netminders can provide you with outstanding trade bait.
Though it may take some time, these three goaltenders have the chance to become the starter for their respective team. Teams already employing full-fledged tandems such as the Philadelphia Flyers, New York Islanders and Dallas Stars were not included.
Chad Johnson, Calgary Flames
The Flames dealt with terrible goaltending last season. In the offseason they attempted to assure that wouldn't be the case this year, trading for Brian Elliott from the St. Louis Blues and signing journeyman Chad Johnson to be the backup.
Elliott has gotten off to a dreadful start with his new team, allowing 10 goals on 55 shots through two starts as of Thursday. Johnson on the other hand, has a 1.89 GAA and a .923 SV% in his two starts.
Thanks to a long-term injury to Robin Lehner last season, Johnson started 40 games with the Buffalo Sabres, posting a 2.36 GAA and a .920 SV% - not far off his career numbers.
Though Elliott had plenty of success in five seasons with the Blues, he never started more than 45 games in a season and has yet to prove he can be an effective netminder away from Ken Hitchcock's ultra-defensive system.
The Flames seem to believe they are in win-now mode. Both goaltenders are on one-year contracts, so there's a good chance head coach Glen Gulutzan will split starts until one goaltender emerges as "the guy". Johnson, a Calgary native, is worthy of adding now if you're desperate for a goaltender with hope he runs away with the job.
Calvin Pickard, Colorado Avalanche
Pickard outplayed Semyon Varlamov last season, posting a save percentage eight points higher and a goals against average 25 points lower. In his third NHL season, Pickard, 24, has a career SV% of .926 and a GAA of 2.47 in 37 games. Not bad considering how bad Colorado's defense has typically been.
New head coach Jared Bednar coached for Columbus' AHL affiliate before replacing Patrick Roy as Colorado's bench boss, so he likely coached against Pickard, who has spent parts of five seasons in the AHL during his career. There's always the chance Bednar views the goaltenders as equals and will wait to see if one of them plays their way into a No. 1 role.
Varlamov certainly hasn't done anything to win his new coach over, allowing eight goals on 68 shots through two games as of Thursday.
Jacob Markstrom, Vancouver Canucks
Once upon a time the 6-foot-6 Markstrom was one of the best goalie prospects in hockey. Now 27, Markstrom finds himself as the backup to Ryan Miller in Vancouver. Miller is currently dealing with an undisclosed injury, which has allowed Markstrom to post a 1.97 GAA through two games.
There's no question Miller is the starter when healthy, but given the fact the veteran netminder is on the last year of his contract, it would make a lot of sense to move him before the deadline. Miller could be moved well before then given the sudden need the Kings have between the pipes thanks to Jonathan Quick's expected three month absence due to a groin injury.
Even though the Canucks have prized goaltending prospect Thatcher Demko looming in the AHL, Markstrom would still likely be given the bulk of the starts, or 50/50 at worst, if Miller were to be traded.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Jacob Markstrom made 26 saves and Daniel Sedin scored the game-winner in the third period Thursday night as the Vancouver Canucks downed the Buffalo Sabres 2-1.
With the victory, the Canucks (4-0-0) are the NHL's only undefeated team after Colorado blanked Tampa Bay 4-0 on Thursday.
Jannik Hansen had the other goal for Vancouver, which won its fourth straight game to open the season, tying a franchise mark set in 1992-93. Brandon Sutter had two assists.
Nicholas Baptiste scored his first NHL goal for Buffalo (1-2-1) while Robin Lehner stopped 18 shots.
The Canucks led 1-0 through two periods and stretched that lead to two at 9:10 of the third when their power play - 0 for 12 up to that point - finally connected. Lehner robbed Sutter at the side of the net, but Loui Eriksson fed a nice pass to Sedin, who buried his second.
After Buffalo's Ryan O'Reilly had a great chance that Alexander Edler swept off the goal line, Baptiste scored on a strange play. Baptiste threw the puck in front and it struck Vancouver's Jake Skille as he battled with Nicolas Deslauriers. The puck caromed toward Markstrom's net, off Edler's stick and in at 11:23. Deslauriers was originally given credit for the goal before it was changed.
The Sabres had a couple of looks from there, but a late too many men on the ice penalty took the wind out of their sails, and they were unable to find the range with Lehner out of the Buffalo goal for an extra attacker.
Markstrom, 3-0-0 on the season, made his second straight start in place of Ryan Miller, who served as the backup after sitting out last game with general tightness.
Following shootout and overtime victories in their first two games, the Canucks beat St. Louis 2-1 in OT on Tuesday to become the first team in league history to win its first three outings of a season while never holding a regulation lead in any of those games.
Vancouver was just 3-30-1 when trailing after 40 minutes last season, and each victory in 2016-17 before Thursday came after the club trailed through two periods. The Canucks didn't require a comeback Thursday after Hansen scored the 100th goal of his career at 11:10 of the second, the Canucks' first lead in 218:22 this season.
NOTES: The Sabres were once again without injured Fs Jack Eichel (ankle) and Evander Kane (ribs) as they wrapped up a three-game road trip through western Canada that also included a 6-2 win over Edmonton and a 4-3 overtime loss in Calgary.
EDMONTON, Alberta - Connor McDavid had a goal and an assist as the Edmonton Oilers won their second straight game in a strong start to the season, defeating the St. Louis Blues 3-1 on Thursday night.
Tyler Pitlick and Milan Lucic also scored for the Oilers, who improved to 4-1-0 on the season, and moved into first place in the Western Conference, one point ahead of St. Louis.
Nail Yakupov scored for the Blues in his first trip to Edmonton since being traded to St. Louis earlier this month.
There was no scoring in the first period, with the Blues getting 10 shots on Oilers goalie Cam Talbot and Edmonton directing eight shots on Jake Allen.
The Blues got on the board 3:37 into the second as a scramble allowed Joel Edmundson to feed it in front to Yakupov. It was the second goal of the season for the former Oiler.
The Oilers pulled even three minutes later as Pitlick made a nifty deflection off a shot by Andrej Sekera while being knocked flying to score his third of the season.
Edmonton made it 2-1 just 36 seconds into the third period as McDavid broke out of a two-game scoring drought by threading a pass through to Lucic in front. It was the big wing's second goal of the year.
Both goaltenders made big saves before the Blues came close to tying it up midway through the third. Yakupov had Talbot beat on a backhand shot, but hit the post.
McDavid put the game away with his fourth goal of the season into an empty net.
NOTES: It was the first of three meetings between the teams this season. . Yakupov spent four seasons with the Oilers, recording 111 points in 252 games. ... Blues F Jaden Schwartz played his first game of the season after recovering from a hyperextended elbow. ... Talbot made his fifth start of the season one day after his wife, Kelly, gave birth to twins.
UP NEXT:
Blues: Conclude a three-game road trip in Calgary on Saturday.
Oilers: Are off until Sunday, when they play the Jets in the Heritage Classic outdoor game in Winnipeg.
Commandeering a one-man parade to the sin bin all night long, Roussel finally snapped, and took out his frustrations on some unsuspecting Gatorade bottles.
Staal has three goals in his first four games with his new team, and his game-winner with eight minutes left kept Minnesota unbeaten in its three-game homestand despite allowing the first goal in each game.
Toronto let another third-period advantage slip away as No. 1 overall draft pick Auston Matthews continued his scorching rookie season with his fifth goal in four games. The Maple Leafs surrendered a four-goal lead in a 5-4 overtime loss a night earlier at Winnipeg.
Minnesota hasn't started well in its games, but led by newcomer Staal and new coach Bruce Boudreau the Wild have been able to pull themselves out of the early deficits.
Polak opened the scoring nine minutes into the second period with a shot from the point that found its way past Dubnyk's shoulder. Staal answered with his first goal 56 seconds later when Charlie Coyle took a loose puck and spun around to find Staal streaking to the net for a breakaway.
Matthews, the rookie who debuted with a four-goal game last week, added a power-play goal for the Leafs.
The Wild entered the game one of three teams yet to allow a power-play goal this season. The penalty kill reached a perfect 12-for-12 before Matthews' tally. Minnesota was 27th in the NHL last season in penalty kill at 77.9 percent a year after leading the league at 86.3 percent.
NOTES: Polak replaced D Martin Marincin, who missed the game with a lower-body injury. ... Wild D Marco Scandella was scratched before the game with an illness. Matt Dumba took his spot in the lineup after he was a minus-2 in the first three games. ... Minnesota was 5-25-6 last season when giving up the first goal. ... Coyle has a point in every game this season. ... Kadri reached 200 career points with his assist.
UP NEXT:
Maple Leafs: Finish its road trip on Saturday at Chicago.
Wild: Begin a four-game road trip on Saturday at New Jersey.
Just weeks after being traded from the team that drafted him first overall in 2012, Nail Yakupov made the most of his return to Edmonton, burying his second goal of the season in a game against his former club.
