LOS ANGELES – In the season that has seemed upside down and backward, the NHL is quickly settling out the wheat and chaff.
Supposed contenders are having issues getting out of the gate and the Las Vegas Golden Knights have pushed their 21K record to 7-1-0 after a win over Chicago Tuesday night.
The Arizona Coyotes remain winless after another loss Tuesday, this time to the New York Islanders.
In the second installment of the campaign, Joe Bartnick offers his assessment of the season to date.
| Last Week | TEAM | BARTNICK ‘s TAKE |
| 3 | LIGHTNING | Kucherov and Stamkos are on fire. Vasilevskly stellar in net. Team has no weaknesses. |
| 9 | MAPLE LEAFS | Auson Matthews is the 2nd best player in hockey. The Leafs offense is has a swagger. For good reason. The team is maturing. Not taking a step back. |
| 3 | PENGUINS | Penguins play like Cup champs except on 2nd day of back to backs. It wasn’t all Niemi’s fault. Letang is playing like he has a Cup hangover but he didn’t play in playoffs. |
| 22 | KINGS | The Kings only have one loss in regulation. Kopitar and Brown are playing like it’s 2012. Iafallo and Kempe’s young legs fuel new fast offense. Will Carter’s injury throw this train off the tracks? |
| 7 | BLACKHAWKS | Saad and Sharp are making the most of their homecoming. Kids are providing needed secondary scoring. The Hawks are now have a 4th line that can score. |
| 5 | BLUE JACKETS | Bobo is in his usual regular season form. |
| 8 | CAPITALS | Ovi, Kuzy, Oshie, Backstrom and Holtby are incredible. The other 18 guys not so much. |
| 18 | SENATORS | The Senators played great out West, without Karlsson. Anderson playing well 2nd year in a row. |
| 20 | BLUES | Jake Allen’s play in net has helped Blues survive a ton of injuries. Schenn is making mark in the Midwest. |
| 27 | DEVILS | Schneider back in form as a top netminder. The Devils are using speed and youth. Boyle back this week. |
| 4 | Predators | No bridesmaid’s hangover on this team. Dealing with injuries sufficiently. Team knows it’s a long winter before the spring. |
| 15 | JETS | They are the Jets. They can look amazing and awful. Maurice hit 600 wins. Imagine if he coached this team to their potential. |
| 10 | FLAMES | Jagr made the top line in a week before he got hurt. Tkachuk needs to worry about scoring more and mayhem less. |
| 6 | DUCKS | Ducks need their Captain back ASAP. Fowler’s injury wrecks an already depleted blue line. |
| 11 | STARS | Benn and Seguin doing everything again. Hitchcock’s coaching hasn’t soured them improved yet or drastically improved anybody else. |
| 3 | OILERS | McDavid can’t do it all by himself. Draisaitl is hurt but what’s the excuse for Lucic, Kassian, Maroon and the Nuge. |
| 30 | GOLDEN KNIGHTS | Head Coach Gerard Gallant has done more for Vegas than Bugsy Siegel. No Flower. No Problem. No Subban. We will see. |
| 23 | FLYERS | No longer the Bullies. Philly is trying to win with speed. We will see how long the Neanderthals put up with actual hockey. |
| 24 | ISLANDERS | Johnny T’s team playing like they want him to stay. Anders Lee showing last year was no fluke. Halak seems to have found his game in net. |
| 16 | Hurricanes | Two steps forward two steps back. Slavin would be a Norris contender if he didn’t play in Carolina. |
| 12 | BRUINS | The Bruins are staved off panic and now Bergeron is healthy. Time to stack some points. |
| 25 | RED WINGS | The Red Wings were lights out in the first week of the season now the red light is out. Howard and Mrazek are also back to sub par goaltending. |
| 21 | PANTHERS | James Riemer filling in nicely for Luongo. Team is putting last year behind them. |
| 14 | SHARKS | Don’t know who Sharks miss more Patrick Marleau or the injured Paul Martin. |
| 13 | RANGERS | The Ranger’s defense is a mess. Shattenkirk can’t find a partner. The King is playing like a peasant. |
| 19 | WILD | Suter playing up to his potential. Dubnyk is not. Parise is not playing at all. |
| 31 | CANUCKS | Baertschi and Boiserie are bringing a little hope in the Pacific Northwest. |
| 29 | AVALANCHE | Their start has been encouraging but Duchene still wants out. |
| 28 | SABRES | They gave Jack Eichel a superstar’s contract. Is he ever going to play like one? Two assists isn’t a great night for a superstar. |
| 17 | CANADIENS | St. Carey’s tirade is his only highlight this year. |
| 26 | COYOTES | Sorry Rick, but you haven’t won a game yet. |
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