The first month of the NHL is coming to an end and through the action-packed October of hockey, there have been a handful of shocking and letdown teams. Let’s break down which were the best, worst, most surprising, and disappointing teams of October in the NHL.
Best Team: Florida Panthers
The Florida Panthers are off to a blazing hot start, with an impressive 8-0-1 record, which started as an eight-game win streak. The Panthers are dominant offensively, led by Jonathan Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov, who both are over a point per game. The defense is steady as well with Aaron Ekblad and Mackenzie Weegar leading the back end. The biggest surprise for the Panthers and the key reason for their success is the goaltending tandem of Sergei Bobrovsky and the rookie Spencer Knight. After a disappointing first two seasons in South Florida, Bobrovsky is finally looking like the elite goalie he once was, posting a 6-0-0 record with 1.81 GAA and a .944 save percentage. His partner 20-year-old Spencer Knight is having a great start of his own with a 2-0-1 record, 1.95 GAA, and a .929 save percentage. After the first month of the season, the Panthers are comfortably first in the competitive Atlantic Division and are sitting in first place in the entire NHL.
Most Surprising Team: Buffalo Sabres
At the start of the season, everyone expected the Buffalo Sabres to be at the bottom of the standings, tanking for the 1st overall pick alongside the Arizona Coyotes. The Sabres made several moves this offseason to make their team worse. The Sabres traded away Sam Reinhart, Rasmus Ristolainen, let go of Linus Ullmark and are without Jack Eichel. But to everyone’s surprise, the Sabres have started the season 5-1-1 and are currently 7th in the entire league. Some unsung heroes have stepped up for the Sabres such as Victor Olofsson, Zemgus Girgensons, and Craig Anderson. It will be interesting to see if the Buffalo Sabres can keep this pace up, but regardless, the hot start the Sabres are having is definitely turning some heads around the league.
Most Disappointing Team: Chicago Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks have been a complete mess this season with their on and off ice issues. The Blackhawks are winless this season with an embarrassing record of 0-7-2 and have struggled tremendously on both sides of the ice. In nine games, the Blackhawks have only scored 17 goals this year despite their strong offense. However, their biggest struggles are coming from the defensive side of the game, allowing the second-most goals in the entire league with 37. Newly acquired defensemen Seth Jones has been poor defensively and reining Vezina winning goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury is having an atrocious start to the season posting a 0-5-0 record, 4.63 GAA and .872 save percentage. On top of that, the Blackhawks are under a TON of fire regarding the Kyle Beach sexual assault case. The Blackhawks are in big trouble to start the season and need to make a change.Â
Worst Team: Arizona Coyotes
As everyone anticipated, the Arizona Coyotes are at the bottom of the league, trying to tank for Shane Wright. The Coyotes are a whole different level of bad this year with an 0-8-1 record and a -26 goal differential through nine games. Nothing is going right and almost everyone is struggling for the Coyotes, apart from rookie goaltender Karel Vejmelka who has kept the Coyotes in every game he has played. Vejmelka is posting an impressive 2.74 GAA and 0.913 save percentage for a horrendous Coyotes team. It wouldn’t be a shock if the Coyotes are at this position next month.
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