The first month of the NHL season is in the books. Now it’s time to get serious.
Even with all 32 teams taking off on Nov. 28 for U.S. Thanksgiving, the schedule lists 220 games, an average of nearly 14 per team – or about one every other day. The New York Rangers, New York Islanders and Winnipeg Jets are among those who will be spending most of the month on the road; the Rangers and Islanders each make their annual trek to Seattle and Western Canada before Thanksgiving. The Buffalo Sabres swing through California, as do the Columbus Blue Jackets, who tack on their annual visit to Seattle.
Two of the League’s best teams on paper, the Edmonton Oilers and Colorado Avalanche, will try to dig their way out after slow starts – but must do so despite injuries to key players. Others, like the Washington Capitals, will try to build on surprisingly good starts.
Related: Connor McDavid out 2-3 weeks with ankle injury for Oilers
5 NHL storylines to watch in November
Here are five of the biggest storylines in the NHL for November:
Edmonton Oilers try to survive without Connor McDavid
The good news for the Oilers is that Connor McDavid isn’t expected to be out for too long. The bad news is that the League’s most dangerous offensive force is expected to miss at least 2-3 weeks after leaving a 6-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday with an ankle injury sustained on his first shift.
Last season’s Stanley Cup finalists enter November 5-5-1 through 11 games after struggling to score during the first month of the season. McDavid has 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in his 10 games – good numbers for a lot of players but pedestrian for the five-time NHL scoring champion.
“You never know what the outcome was going to be and how long,” coach Kris Knoblauch said after practice Thursday. “Obviously, you don’t want to miss him any time, but you think about what could have been, we’re lucky it’s as short as it is.”
The Oilers wrapped up October with a 5-1 road win against the Nashville Predators on Thursday; beginning with a visit to the Calgary Flames on Sunday, they play seven games in a 14-day stretch.
The good news for Edmonton is that they’re tied (in points) for third place in the Pacific Division — meaning that as long as McDavid isn’t out for too long, their playoff hopes shouldn’t be severely damaged. Of course, his teammates have to step up.
“When you’re missing somebody who is playing about 22 minutes a night, there’s a lot more rhythm for those third-, fourth-line guys,” Knoblauch said. “[They’re] able to feel good about themselves and feel part of the game.”
Alex Ovechkin’s chase to catch Wayne Gretzky continues
There are two numbers that outshine all others for Alex Ovechkin: 894 and 39.
894 is the target; it’s the NHL record for goals that’s been held for 25 years by Wayne Gretzky, who retired in 1999. The other number is his age.
Ovechkin is no longer the feared offensive force he was in his younger days with Washington. His skating has dropped off and his defensive play, never robust to begin with, has also declined. But the shot that has made him the No. 2 goal-scorer in NHL history is alive and well, as he showed by scoring two goals in Washington’s 5-3 win against the New York Rangers at Capital One Arena on Tuesday and another in a 6-3 win against the Montreal Canadiens, giving him five in Washington’s first nine games.
The three goals this week increased his career total to 858, leaving him 37 shy of passing Gretzky. He’ll have plenty of chances to get closer to The Great One in November; the Capitals play 15 games in 30 days.
Can the Winnipeg Jets keep flying?
The Winnipeg Jets were the League’s best team in October, finishing the month 9-1-0 – including 5-0-0 on the road. Their 18 points are the most in the NHL, as is their plus-22 goal differential. Goalie Connor Hellebuyck is off to a fast start as he tries to win the Vezina Trophy in back-to-back seasons; he’s 7-1-0 with a 2.32 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage.
The challenge for the Jets in November is their schedule. After playing at Columbus on Friday, they have four home games in seven days – but three are against a trio of the League’s toughest teams: the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday, the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday and the Dallas Stars on Nov. 9.
And then things get really tough.
The Jets play eight of their final nine games this month on the road. They visit the Rangers, who were 6-2-1 in October, on Nov. 12, followed by a two-game swing through Florida with games at Tampa Bay on Nov. 14 and the defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers two nights later.
After a one-game pit stop at home for a return match with Florida, the Jets finish the month with five in a row on the road, starting with a back-to-back at Pittsburgh on Nov. 22 and Nashville on the 23rd. Then it’s off to Minnesota on the 25th, Los Angeles on Thanksgiving Eve and Vegas on Black Friday.
It’s safe to say that we’ll have a much better idea as to whether the Jets are the real deal a month from now.
Colorado Avalanche try to stop the bleeding
There’s no question that the Colorado Avalanche (5-6-0) can put the puck in the net; they’re averaging 3.45 goals per game despite missing several of their top forwards. Center Nathan MacKinnon and defenseman Cale Makar are the first teammates in franchise history to open the season with simultaneous 11-game point streaks.
It’s the inability to keep the puck out of their own net and a continuing barrage of injuries that are doing them in.
Despite outshooting their opponents by an average of more than five shots per game, the Avalanche are surrendering 4.18 goals per game, tied with the Montreal Canadiens for worst in the NHL. They’ve allowed at least five goals in six of their 11 games – and lost all six, including 5-2 to the visiting Lightning on Wednesday that saw them playing catch-up all night after surrendering three goals in the first 5:32. Colorado also lost two more forwards this week — Russ Colton (broken foot) and Miles Wood (upper body) – and is already playing without Jonathan Drouin (upper body), Artturi Lehkonen (shoulder) and captain Gabriel Landeskog (knee; he hasn’t played since June 2022).
Alexandar Georgiev, who led NHL goaltenders with 38 wins last season, is 1-4-0 with a 4.62 goals-against average and .822 save percentage; he’s allowed at least three goals in each of his five starts. Backup Justin Annunen could supplant him as the starter; he’s 4-1-0 with a 2.48 GAA and .905 save percentage. Kaapo Kahkonen allowed four goals on 20 shots against the Lightning in his first start for Colorado.
For November, the Avalanche must find someone who can play like a No. 1 goalie while the injured players heal.
“I do like how we’re playing overall,” MacKinnon said after the loss to the Lightning. “When guys come back, I feel like if just keep with this, we’ll have better results, but that’s not the point right now.”
Islanders must find way to finish — or they might be finished
The New York Islanders begin November 3-5-2 despite being one of the best teams at generating 5-on-5 chances. It’s the inability to finish that’s their problem.
New York allowed a total of five non-empty net goals in four of the losses (three in regulation, one in overtime). The Islanders lost because they were shut out in all four, losing 1-0 twice (once in overtime), 2-0 (one empty-netter) at Columbus on Wednesday and 3-0 (one empty-netter) at Dallas on Oct. 12.
“It’s not on our goaltenders, it’s not their fault,” center Bo Horvat said after the loss in Columbus. “It’s on us. We have to score at the end of the day.”
To make things even tougher, the Islanders will spend most of the next three weeks away from home. The game at Columbus began a stretch that will see them play nine of 11 games on the road. That includes a five-game stretch when they visit Seattle and the three Western Canada teams before finishing with a stop in Detroit for a rematch of the Red Wings’ 1-0 win at UBS Arena on Oct. 22.
“It’s a team thing right now, and we’re going to get out of it together,” coach Patrick Roy said of his team’s struggle to score. “We’re playing good enough to win and we’re coming up short. At the same time, we need to be resilient and we need to find ways to win.”
The Islanders are 15th in the Eastern Conference in points percentage. Unless they start finding the back of the net soon, they’re liable to find themselves on the outside looking in at what’s likely to be a tight race for the final playoff spots in the East.