Weekend Wrap

With the first weekend of the NHL season wrapped up, lets take a look at some of the more interesting storylines coming out of it.

Goalie Gaffs:

It can't be a huge surprise that many goalies are not in mid-season form yet, especially those who haven't been playing, but a number of top tier goalies were lit up like a cheap cigar on the weekend. Henrik Lundqvist, Jonathan Quick, Jimmy Howard, Cory Schneider, Jaroslav Halak and Cam Ward were all pulled from games after less than stellar performances. The worst may be for Schneider as this only further complicates the situation in Vancouver. The season is early so they will bounce back but with the games meaning so much they'd better not take long or they will find themselves looking at the outside of the playoff picture.

Old Time Hockey:

The veteran guard was certainly present with both Teemu Selanne and Jaromir Jage racking up four point games in their season debuts. Alex Kovalev and three point is Florida's season opener and Ray Whitey all chipped in in Dallas showing that age really is just a number.

Slow Starts:

The Flyers and the Rangers both went 0-2 over the weekend. They each lost to the Penguins and the Flyers fell 5-2 to the Sabers and the Rangers lost to the Bruins. Sure they lost to good teams but this is not the start they were hoping for, nor was it expected from their fans. They will need to turn it around soon. Elsewhere Vancouver was shelled 7-3 in their home opener by Anaheim then blew a 2-0 lead to Edmonton on route to a shootout loss Sunday. The Canucks do have injury problems but need to end this skid quickly.

Running out of the Gate:

St. Louis, Chicago, Ottawa, Minnesota, Pittsburgh and Anaheim are all off to 2-0 starts after strong openers. In Ottawa Craig Anderson has been solid and Kyle Turris has added 3 goals in two games for the Sens. The Wild have had solid goaltending from Backstrom and Harding and look to stay hot tonight against Nashville. St. Louis and Chicago have been impressive, especially the Blackhawks, but something has to give as they face each other tonight. Malkin has lead the charge for the Penguins who have gotten solid goaltending from Marc-Andre Fleury which he'll need to continue to prove this team is a true favourite.

Sloppy Play:

It has to be said that while there were some great highlights over the weekend, there was a lot of sloppy hockey, I mean did you see the Leafs Habs game Saturday? This is to be expected as teams are just starting the season and didn't have much of a training camp but the teams that are able to pull it together quickly and  avoid the dreadful turnovers that lead to quality chances will obviously stand a better chance at making a playoff appearance.


Who or what stood out to you over the weekend?