The Monday Chirp: Week 2

Two weeks in, and the standings already have that "don't panic, but maybe panic a little" smell. One legend announced his final lap, one goalie's season ended before Halloween, and two fan bases are refreshing the draft lottery odds. Grab a coffee. Let's chirp.

Three Stars of the Week

⭐ First Star: Connor McDavid and Evan Bouchard, Edmonton

We're cheating and giving it to two guys, because the Oilers are 4-0-1 and these two are running a clinic. McDavid has 13 points (3 goals, 10 assists) during a five-game point streak to open the season. Bouchard has 12 points through five games. He's only the third defenseman in NHL history to do that, joining Morgan Rielly and Harry Cameron, who did it in 1917-18 wearing a wool sweater and no helmet. Bouchard has better hair.

⭐ Second Star: Kirill Kaprizov, Minnesota

Kaprizov walked into Sunrise for Florida's home opener and put up a hat trick and an assist in a 4-1 win. It was his seventh career hat trick, two shy of Marian Gaborik's Wild record. Matt Boldy scored 53 seconds in, and the Panthers spent the rest of the night chasing. Florida's power play is now 1-for-28. That's not a typo.

⭐ Third Star: Jacob Fowler, Montreal

Thirty saves, zero goals against, and a 1-0 shootout win over Detroit. Sixty-five minutes, no goals by either team, and Fowler blinked last. Old-time hockey, and the Bell Centre loved every second of it.

The Big Story: Ovi's Farewell Tour

Alex Ovechkin announced this will be his final NHL season. Then on Sunday he went out and scored his first goal of the year, career goal number 930, against Seattle's Joey Daccord. That makes Daccord the 190th different goalie Ovechkin has scored on, an NHL record (Jaromir Jagr is second with 178).

The Caps lost the game 5-3 when Jared McCann broke a 3-3 tie late in the third, but nobody's going to remember the score. Every road building gets one last look at the most dangerous left circle in hockey history. If you've never seen him live, buy the ticket. This is the last chance.

Chirp of the Week: The Philadelphia Flyers

0-5-2. Seven straight losses to open the season, a franchise record. Eight goals in seven games. They've been shut out in the first period four games in a row. Their goal differential is -20, which is a weird number to have in mid-October.

Sunday's 4-1 loss to Carolina got extra spicy because two former Flyers, Sean Walker and Shayne Gostisbehere, were in on the damage. Both of Gostisbehere's goals this season have come against Philly. Petty? Maybe. Effective? Absolutely.

The front office responded by signing Michael Bunting to a one-year, $1.2 million deal. He's a solid add who scores double digits every year. Asking him to fix an eight-goals-in-seven-games offense is a lot to put on one guy.

Honorable Chirps

Calgary Flames (0-5-0): Zero points. Minus-19. They gave up 11 goals in two home losses this weekend to Colorado (7-3) and Anaheim (4-2). Seattle beat them 6-1 twice in Week 1. At this point the Saddledome scoreboard should just come with a progress bar.

Chicago Blackhawks (1-5-0): We're a Chicago brand, so it hurts to type this one. Minus-14 through six games. It's early. It's young. It's going to be a long winter on Madison Street. We'll be in the 300 level anyway.

Vancouver Canucks (2-5-0): 35 goals against in seven games, and they've given up five or more four times. Sunday's 6-2 loss to the Rangers was their fourth straight.

Los Angeles Kings (0-2-2): No regulation wins yet, but they do have two overtime points. And yes, Vegas needed Mitch Marner on the power play 40 seconds into OT to beat them.

Quick Hits

Carolina leads the league with 11 points and five straight wins. Sebastian Aho has 11 points, and Mark Jankowski has scored in four straight games, which nobody had on their bingo card.
Vegas is 5-1-0 and loves late drama. They came back from 3-0 down to beat Toronto in a shootout, then beat LA in overtime. Jack Eichel already has 12 points.
Toronto shook off the shootout loss with a 6-3 win in Denver. William Nylander and Auston Matthews combined for four goals, and No. 1 pick Gavin McKenna picked up another assist.
Anaheim is 4-1 and winning with depth: five different goal scorers in a 5-1 win over Winnipeg.
Macklin Celebrini scored in his return from injury, but Edmonton still beat the Sharks 3-1. Darnell Nurse played his old team for the first time since the July trade.

The Injury Report Nobody Wanted

The Rangers lost Igor Shesterkin for the season with a knee injury. That's the highest-paid goalie in league history, done before Halloween. Dylan Garand got the call Sunday and made 19 saves in a 6-2 win, so the room isn't folding yet. Ty Kartye and Will Cuylle scored two each, and the Rangers are 4-0 at home.

Elsewhere, Islanders defenseman Alexander Romanov tore his ACL (six months minimum), Florida lost Brad Marchand for six weeks with Aleksander Barkov already out, and Ottawa's William Eklund is out long term with an ankle injury.