October Recap
The Sharks have started well in the Pacific, with only one regulation loss through nine games. Ryan Miller has been steady in net and their scoring depth (they lead the league in goals per game) has been impressive, including the offense they've gotten from the blueline especially from Burns and Streit. The Wild lead the Central, with Pominville (2-7-9) and Haula (3-5-8) leading the way offensively for them. They currently have the best powerplay in the NHL.
Detroit sits third in the Atlantic despite the dominant duo of Dylan Larkin (10-7-17) and Gus Nyquist (4-12-16) leading the league in scoring. Their powerplay is clicking at the second best rate in the league. Philadelphia is the second best team in the league in goals against, and the story over there is how Antti Niemi has taken the lion's share of starts over star Corey Crawford who was acquired in the offseason to be the number one. Niemi has amazing numbers right now and coach Craig Berube is riding the hot hand.
Team Stat Leaders:
GF/gm - San Jose (4.0), Boston (3.6), Tampa Bay (3.6), Washington (3.4), Chicago (3.3)
GA/gm - Colorado (1.7), Philadelphia (1.8), Anaheim (1.9), Buffalo, Carolina, Tampa Bay (2.0)
PP - Minnesota (32%), Detroit (30%), Tampa Bay (28%), San Jose (27%), Winnipeg (26%)
PK - Arizona (96%), Colorado (93%), Edmonton (93%), Winnipeg (91%), Toronto (90%)
Goalie Leaders (min 5gp):
GAA - Varlamov (COL) 1.32, Niemi (PHI) 1.34, Vasilevskiy (TBL) 1.36, Hammond (BUF) 1.38, Gibson (ANA) 1.44
Sv Pct - Niemi (PHI) .962, Varlamov (COL) .953, Gibson (ANA) .946, Hammond (BUF) .944, Vasilevskiy (TBL) .942
GSAA - Niemi (PHI) 9.85, Bernier (TOR) 7.32, Varlamov (COL) 6.36, Lehner (OTT) 6.14, Kuemper (MIN) 6.03
SO - Bernier (TOR), Dubnyk (CGY), Skapski (NYR), Varlamov (COL), Vasilevskiy (TBL) 2
Rookie Leaders:
Points - Meier (CBJ) 3-3-6, D. Strome (CGY) 2-4-6, Cassels (VAN) 2-3-5, Point (NYR) 2-2-4, Matheson (FLA) 1-3-4, Parayko (TBL) 1-3-4, Provorov (WIN) 0-4-4
Other Stat Leaders:
Takeaways - Giordano (CGY) 15, Shattenkirk (STL) 12, DeKeyser (DET) 11, S. Jones (NSH), Kruger (LAK) 9
Hits - Borowiecki (SJS) 44, B. Tanev (VAN) 35, Backes (STL), Lowry (WIN), Simmonds (PHI) 33
Blocked Shots - Russell (VAN) 42, C. Murphy (ARI) 36, Brodie (CGY) 35, Brodin (MIN), Gustafsson (PHI), Karlsson (OTT) 34
PIM - Clarkson (WSH) 37, E. Kane (WIN) 35, T. Wilson (WSH) 26, R. White (PHI) 24, Hartnell (ANA) 23
FO% - Engqvist (NJD) 62.9, J. Staal (CAR) 62.4, O'Reilly (COL) 61.8, Kopitar (LAK) 61.2, Schmaltz (CHI) 60.8
+/- - Despres (PIT) +10, Backstrom (WSH), Dillon (DAL), Nieto (SJS), Ovechkin (WSH), Saad (SJS) +9
Notable Injuries:
C David Krejci (BOS) DTD (back)
RW Mikko Rantanen (DAL) OUT 1-2 months (concussion)
RW Jordan Eberle (EDM) OUT 3-4 months (shoulder)
D Ryan Suter (MIN) DTD (abdomen)
LW Alex Galchenyuk (MTL) OUT 1-2 months (upper body)
D Shea Weber (NSH) DTD (jaw)
D Kris Letang (PIT) OUT 1-2 weeks (shoulder)
C Evgeny Kuznetsov (WSH) OUT 1-2 months (hand)