Colorado Avalanche
Reto Berra got his first start of the season on Monday evening in Boston. He had an outstanding game, allowing only one goal on 28 shots against (SV% .964). After a 2-3 overtime loss on Tuesday in Toronto, the Colorado Avalanche announced that starting goaltender Semyon Varlamov is day-to-day with a groin injury, thus making Berra their temporary number one. But only 2:46 into the game against Ottawa on Thursday, the Swiss netminder got plowed over by Senators center Kyle Turris, forcing him to leave the game with an upper-body injury. The Avs fell to the Senators 3-5, despite leading 3-1 after the first period. Rookie goaltender Calvin Pickard, who already completed the game in Ottawa, filled in for Berra on Saturday (2-3 loss). Colorado is second to last in the Central Division, only one point ahead of Winnipeg.
Minnesota Wild
The Minnesota Wild only played one game this week, a 1-2 regulation loss away at Anaheim on Friday. Nino Niederreiter finished with no points and a -1 rating in only 12:37 TOI. Minnesota has played the fewest games of all 30 teams, so their place in the standings doesn’t mean too much as of yet.
Nashville Predators
The Nashville Predators had a so-so week with two losses in three games. Roman Josi didn’t record any points in all three games this week, but played an impressive 28:54 minutes on average per game. Nashville lost to Calgary (2-3 shootout loss) on Tuesday, won in Winnipeg on Friday (2-0) and fell 1-2 in overtime to the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday. After this week, they still lead their divison, one point ahead of the Chicago Blackhawks.
Calgary Flames
Swiss netminder Jonas Hiller got one start this week and played 64:35 minutes in the Calgary Flames’ 2-1 overtime win in Chicago, making an impressive 49 saves, allowing only one goal and carrying his team to a surprising win. Deservedly, Hiller was elected as the games’ first star, honoring his phenomenal effort. Raphael Diaz played in his second game this season in Chicago, but remained scoreless in 10:52 TOI. On Friday, he played in another game, finishing it with a +1 rating and increased ice time after playing for 14:25 minutes. Calgary is 3-3-0 after six games, which is an acceptable start, considering that they already played St. Louis, Chicago and Columbus, all three teams with a stronger roster.
San Jose Sharks
Mirco Müller was scratched for the first time in his short NHL career on Tuesday, a the San Jose Sharks’ 6-5 shootout win in Washington. He returned to the line-up two days later in New York, when his team lost 3-4 in a shootout to the red-hot New York Islanders. Mirco Müller still had a reason to smile after the game, though, as he recorded his first career NHL point, an assist on Burns’ go-ahead goal early in the second period. He remained scoreless two days later in a 4-2 win in New Jersey after 17:51 TOI and one shot on goal. After this week, San Jose is the only team without a regulation loss in their divison and leads the Pacific Divison one point ahead of the Anaheim Ducks.
Vancouver Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks had a quiet week with only two games. They won 2-0 in Edmonton on Friday, before losing their second game of the weekend 2-4 at home to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Luca Sbisa is still waiting for his first point of the season, but finished both games with a +1 rating, in 20:57 TOI on Friday and only 14:58 TOI the day after. He seems to be a regular in Vancouver’s defense, whereas Yannick Weber only got his first game of the season on Saturday against Tampa Bay. He finished with a +1 rating and two penalty minutes in 14:06 TOI and an overall solid game. The Canucks are fourth in the Pacific Division with six points, tied with the Calgary Flames.
New Jersey Devils
Damien Brunner finally got his chance and played on the New Jersey Devil’s second line after Martin Havlat’s gruesome injury in the game against Washington left him side-lined on Saturday. Brunner played 17:51 minutes and had two shots on goal but didn’t register any points in his teams’ 2-4 loss against San Jose. It was New Jersey’s second consecutive loss after their 6-2 defeat in Washington two days before. They won their first game of the week 2-1 in Tampa Bay. The Devils are 3-2-0 and sit in fifth place - only two points behind the division-leading New York Islanders - in an extremely close Metropolitan Division.
Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers lost 3-4 in a shootout to Anaheim on Tuesday, a game where Mark Streit scored a power play goal in 25:15 TOI. He got another two points in their overtime win in Dallas on Saturday in a season-high 26:26 minutes. He got an assist on Michael Raffl’s 5-5 goal to send the game to overtime and another helper on Claude Giroux’ power play goal in overtime that got his team the first win of the season. After a poor start to the season, the Flyers are ranked sixth in the Metropolitan Division, two points behind Damien Brunner’s New Jersey Devils.
AHL – a quick look
Sven Bärtschi’s second week in the AHL wasn’t really an improvement over the first one. Still no points through five games this season, while his rating dropped to -4. Sven Andrighetto got his first goal of the season and had an even rating along with ten shots on goal in two games this week. In two games, Cody Almond had no points, but saw his rating drop to -3. Tanner Richard played three games this week and got a +1 rating and a goal. A surprising effort, considering that he only scored twice the two seasons before. Fellow Swiss Crunch forward Joel Vermin recorded one goal and two assists in three games this week and is off to a great start in his first full AHL season.
