By Joseph Durie
The second week of the NHL came to an end with a few surprises from the start of the Colorado Avalanche, to the still winless Toronto Maple Leafs.
Colorado was picked by many to be at the bottom of the Western Conference this year. However, they sit second after winning 5 of their first 7 games. 2009 third overall draft pick Matt Duchene is playing a big role as just 18-year-old, and goalie Craig Anderson is the other big reason the Avalanche are near the top of the standings. Anderson is getting his first shot at a no.1 job has been outstanding.
In Eastern Conference the big news apart from the defending cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins, who have won 5 straight games on the road, is the New York Rangers.
The Rangers are unbeaten at Madison Square Garden and Marian Gaborik, if he can stay healthy this season and play over 70 games will score over 50 goals. Led by a couple of rookie defencemen, the Rangers could prove to be a power in the East.
Things are just going from bad to worse for the Toronto Maple Leafs, sitting at the bottom of the entire NHL. Injuries and bad form of their goalies, along with a slow and over aggressive defence have been the main reason the Toronto poor start, and with big off-season addition Phil Kessel not due back till mid-November, the Leafs and the New York Islanders are the only teams without wins through the first two weeks. At least the Islanders have John Tavares.
Alex Ovechkin through 7 games has scored 7 goals, and while it is a bit early to be talking about the 50-in-50 mark, Ovechkin has the best chance of any player in almost 15 years to reach the milestone. Only 5 players in NHL history have scored 50 goals in 50 games Maurice Richard, Mike Bossy, Wayne Gretzky (3 times), Mario Lemieux and Brett Hull (2 times).
Gretzky still holds the record by reaching the 50 goal mark in only the 39th game of the 1981-82 season.
The game of the week was the rematch of the Western Conference Quarterfinals from last year of Chicago Blackhawks against the Calgary Flames.
The Flames jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first period before the Blackhawks came storming back to tie the game 5-5 before Brent Seabrook scored in overtime for a 6-5 win.
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