The Calgary Flames ended their 29-game losing streak at Anaheim's Honda Center with a 2-0 victory Monday over the Ducks. While it's easy to give goaltender Mike Smith most of the credit for his 43-save shutout, the Flames are giving thanks to Jobu, a voodoo figurine made famous by the hit 1989 film, "Major League."
In the movie about a misfit Cleveland Indians team, Cuban outfielder Pedro Cerrano seeks Jobu's - a fictional demi-god that's actually a cigar-smoking doll with blonde, spiked hair - assistance to help him hit a curveball. To quote Cerrano: "Straight ball I hit it very much. Curveball, bats are afraid."
Flames head coach Glen Gulutzan even started his postgame press conference by talking about Jobu:
“Jobu made an appearance tonight.” - Glen Gulutzan starting off his media address with a nod to the new guy in the room pic.twitter.com/XiXpI74VYL
Mikael Backlund, who scored one of Calgary's two goals in the contest, gave "Jobu magic" as the reason the Flames were able to break the Honda Center curse:
“Jobu magic.” - Mikael Backlund on the Major League nod in the locker room today pic.twitter.com/n9vMczQsj4
Sidney Crosby claimed that the Penguins' visit to the White House had nothing to do with politics and was more about carrying on tradition. However, one tradition was left out during team's visit on Tuesday - the usual presentation of a jersey to the president.
After winning the Cup in 2016, the Penguins visited Barack Obama at the White House and presented him a jersey with Obama and No. 44 on the back, since he was the 44th President of the United States. However, no jersey was presented in front of cameras to Donald Trump with No. 45 on the back.
Other than that, the visit went just as most expected it would. Trump called the Penguins "true, true champions and incredible patriots," asked Penguins co-owner Ron Burkle to help him renegotiate NAFTA, said Evgeni Malkin looked like a basketball player, and appeared to be on a nickname basis with Kris Letang.
The Arizona Coyotes will do their part to honor the victims and first responders of the mass shooting in Las Vegas on Tuesday when the club tangles with the Golden Knights in the latter's inaugural home opener.
The Coyotes will don decals on their helmets that read "Vegas Strong" - a message that will also be featured on the boards at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday in lieu of traditional advertisements.
Co-owner Jon Ledecky confirmed the club will remain at Barclays Center in Brooklyn until at least the end of the 2018-19 season, according to Brett Cyrgalis of the New York Post.
Additionally, the Islanders remain wholly committed to building a new arena at Belmont Park, which is just outside of New York City, as per a bid submitted in late September.
What happens after next season and prior to the opening of a new rink remains a bit of a mystery, but a move back to Long Island appears to be out of the question.
Ledecky once again threw ice cold water on any thought of returning to Coliseum. Said even if they wanted to, NHL wouldn’t approve it.
The Islanders have called Barclays Center home since 2015-16. Along with the long-term arena uncertainty, the team faces the prospect of losing franchise center John Tavares to unrestricted free agency next summer.
With a mere three goals in three games, the Montreal Canadiens are, on average, the NHL's lowest-scoring team so far this season.
Of those three markers, two have come shorthanded and one at even strength, but it's not for a lack of trying. The Canadiens rank sixth among all teams with 37.7 shots on goal, but the puck just isn't going into the net.
"You hope that (goals) will come because some of the A-grade chances we had … I mean there’s been posts, there’s been crossbars, we’ve seen that early even in the preseason," head coach Claude Julien said Tuesday, per Stu Cowan of Hockey Inside/Out.
Indeed, it's a 2.65 shooting percentage that's sinking the Habs, a number that drops to 1.14 at even strength, per Corsica Hockey. A measure of bad luck is in play, surely, but Julien is stressing shot quality alongside shot quantity ahead of Tuesday's showdown with the high-scoring Chicago Blackhawks.
"We got to stick with it and I think at the end of the day it’s more about having a philosophy of bringing more pucks on the inside. I’m repeating myself," he continued, "(but) it doesn’t matter how many questions you ask me, there’s only one way to score goals. It’s by having the philosophy of wanting to take pucks to the net vs. bringing them to the outside.”
The Canadiens, who are coming off a shutout loss to the New York Rangers, are making one change to the lineup for Tuesday's game, with Ales Hemsky replacing Jacob De La Rose on the fourth line.
Minnesota Wild forward Mikael Granlund will miss the club's next four games "for sure" as he deals with an undisclosed injury, head coach Bruce Boudreau said Tuesday.
Granlund suited up for the Wild's season opener against the Detroit Red Wings, but missed the club's second game against the Carolina Hurricanes due to injury.
On Monday, Boudreau had said he thought Granlund's injury would keep him out "short term," according to Kayleigh Jackson of Wild.com.
While the three wins are certainly something to marvel, it's how the Maple Leafs have gone about collecting those wins and some of the underlying numbers that make the team's start to the 2018 campaign so impressive.
Here are five telling stats about the team's red-hot start:
Once in a century offense
It's been well documented, but the Maple Leafs can put the puck in the net.
Through three games the club has torched opposing netminders with a league-high 19 goals, good enough for an average of 6.33 per game. In fact, the Maple Leafs are scoring at their highest rate through the team's first three games of a campaign since the 1917-18 season (also known as 100 years ago) - back when the Maple Leafs were actually called the Arenas.
The NHL record for most goals in a season is held by the 1983-84 Edmonton Oilers who tallied 446 goals in what was then an 80-game season. At the Maple Leafs' current rate they would finish with 519. That number is sure to come down as the season progresses, but that's just how potent these Buds have been so far.
A true team effort
What is so impressive about the team's offensive explosion is that it's largely been by committee.
Of the 20 players Mike Babcock has deployed through three games, Eric Fehr is the only player to not collect a point, while 13 different players have scored at least one goal.
Further to that, at least 14 players have tallied at least two points in three games and 10 are averaging a point per game early on. Try to shut down Matthews and William Nylander and the team will find another way to burn you.
Elite power play
One of the biggest factors in the team's 19 goals early on is that the Maple Leafs continue to ice a lethal power play.
After finishing the 2017 season with the second-best power-play unit, connecting on 23.8 percent of their opportunities, the Maple Leafs are firing at an even higher rate (37.5 percent), good enough to tie the New Jersey Devils for the most productive unit.
In all, the Maple Leafs have gone 6-for-16 with the man advantage.
Owning the faceoff circle
The league's crackdown on the faceoff circle doesn't appear to have hindered the Maple Leafs, in fact it could be aiding them.
Early on only the Boston Bruins have a better faceoff-winning percentage than the Maple Leafs' 58.8 percent rate. That number is a big bump for the Maple Leafs who finished 15th in the category last year with a success rate of 49.9 percent.
Stellar puck possession
The advanced statistics crowd could probably tell you that the numbers back-up the Maple Leafs' early success.
The Maple Leafs currently boast a Corsi-for rating of 55.47 percent - good enough for seventh league-wide - and are scoring 5.79 goals per 60 minutes at 5-on-5, second only to the Blackhawks. Meanwhile, the Maple Leafs outshot those same Blackhawks 35-13 at even strength on Monday night.
The team has the fourth-best shooting percent at 5-on-5 (16.44 percent), but is placed just 22nd in team save percentage (89.83). If the Maple Leafs can tighten things up a little more defensively, it'll be scary to see how good this team can actually be.
That's the only message that will be featured on the boards inside T-Mobile Arena during the Vegas Golden Knights' inaugural regular-season home game, which will be played Tuesday against the Arizona Coyotes.
The Golden Knights, currently the only professional sports franchise in Las Vegas, have been major proponents of that message since a mass shooting devastated the city on Oct. 1.
The prominence of "Vegas Strong" will add to what promises to be an emotional affair.
"(Alex Ovechkin) is that elite shooter. (Crosby) is the workhorse," Kunitz said Monday after a win over Washington, per Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times. "But there's an elite level that Kucherov plays in the game. Scoring big goals at big times is something not very many guys have in this league, and it's something you have to want. And he definitely wants that."
That was on full display Monday in the third period against the Capitals, where with his team down by a goal, Kucherov tied things up with what the NHL social media team described as "a ridiculous display of skill."
Kucherov later drew the primary assist on the overtime winner scored by Brayden Point.
Kunitz added Kucherov is a lot like Chicago Blackhawks star Patrick Kane, in that he thrives with the puck on his stick.
"He can control the tempo of the game," Kunitz said.
Kucherov recorded career highs in goals (40), assists (45), and total points (85) last season, and he's recorded three goals and two assists in three games to start 2017-18.
