NHL Bi-Weekly Recap: Oct 30 – Nov 11

The Islanders shoot up to 2nd in the Eastern Conference behind a 10-game winning streak; the Avalanche, Hurricanes, and Sabres come back down to earth;

The Winners:

After a shaky 1-3 start to the season, the Islanders ripped off the second-longest winning streak in franchise history with 10 straight wins. During the streak, they outscored their opponents 34-17, while winning six games by two or more goals. The defense has been clinical with sound positioning and active sticks, a trademark of Barry Trotz-coached teams. They’ve allowed the sixth-least shots on goal per game, and the penalty kill has been stellar at 85% effectiveness.

Netminder Semyon Varlamov has fit in seamlessly with his new club, posting eight wins with a 2.37 GAA, and a .924 save percentage. Co-netminder Thomas Greiss has been even better, with seven wins, a 1.88 GAA and a .942 save percentage. What’s clear is that the Islanders have the same great problem they had last season: two starting goalies to throw out there on any given night. As long as they’re playing gritty team defense like they’ve been doing, whoever is in net will be set up for success.

The Losers:

After starting the season like gangbusters, the Avalanche, Hurricanes, and Sabres have each gone 4-5-1 over their past 10 games. The Avalanche have somewhat of an excuse, as they’ve been decimated by injury at every major position. Their top stars have been hit the hardest, including, Mikko Rantanen, Gabriel Landeskog, Nikita Zadorov, and goaltender Philip Grubauer all having missed time during the rough stretch. It’s actually quite impressive that Colorado has been able to hover around .500 with that many core players missing – a testament to their supreme depth. Fortunately, only Landeskog is expected to be out for an extended period, so the Avs should be able to get back on track once healthy again.

Meanwhile, the Hurricanes don’t have many excuses other than poor play during their stretch, including a 4-1 drubbing by the bottom-feeding Senators. Goaltender Petr Mrazek’s numbers have been wildly inconsistent this season, ranging from a couple of shutouts to a couple of sub-.800 save percentage outings.

For the Sabres, their offense and defense have done a complete flip. The defense has had multiple breakdowns, and looks to have regressed back to the unorganized, scrambling style from last season.