CALGARY -- Johnny Gaudreau is listed as a member of the Calgary Flames, though he can't claim to be a Calgary resident. One month into his NHL career, Gaudreau still is living in a downtown hotel.

He hasn't been told to find a more permanent residence. Yet.

"I hope to hear the news," said Gaudreau, who has one goal and four points 10 games into his first full professional season after a standout career at Boston College. "There's nothing definite yet. Each day I'm fortunate to be here and I'm going to do my best to try to make sure [general manager Brad Treliving] is telling me to get a place. Hopefully I keep proving to them and showing them that I belong here."

His coach said he's doing just that. He'll have another chance to prove himself Sunday against the Montreal Canadiens (7 p.m. ET, CITY)

One month in the books, and the Presidents' Trophy for October goes to the …

OK, so that's not actually a thing and we won't go there. It's way too early to hand out hardware, but it's not too early to be surprised and intrigued by what's happening in the NHL.

With that in mind, here are 10 surprises, in no particular order, that made October in the NHL intriguing:

OT changes working

This should not necessarily be considered a surprise because it was the intention when the NHL made the changes to the overtime format, but through Friday the percentage of overtime games that extend into a shootout is down from last season.

Here are the numbers:

Jack Jablonski is determined to turn a tragic event in his life into a reason to believe in miracles.

It was almost three years ago, in December 2011, when the then-sophomore was hit from behind while playing hockey for Benilde-St. Margaret's High School against Wayzata High during a game at a holiday tournament in St. Louis Park, Minn.

The check pushed him straight up against the boards and left Jablonski motionless on the ice. Following a 2 1/2-hour operation five days later, it was determined he had sustained a severed spinal cord in the neck. He was paralyzed from the chest down, and doctors felt at the time that it would take a miracle for Jablonski to recover full use of his arms and legs.

NEWARK, N.J. -- The huge sigh of relief coming from New Jersey Devils coach Peter DeBoer was palpable as he stepped to the podium at his postgame press conference to discuss a rare shootout victory.

When asked if a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders, DeBoer smiled.

"I think that's an understatement," he said.

Jacob Josefson made it possible when he scored on his second-round attempt for what proved to be the only goal of the tiebreaker in a 2-1 victory against the Winnipeg Jets at Prudential Center on Thursday. The win snapped an NHL-record 18-game losing streak in the shootout for the Devils; their last shootout victory came March 10, 2013, also against Winnipeg.

GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- The puck dropped in front of Rick Nash as if it arrived gift-wrapped with a card on it that read, "Open for a goal."

It dropped at the feet of the New York Rangers forward, which were positioned perfectly in front of the crease. The bounce was timed perfectly with the blade of his swinging stick.

Forgive Nash for getting a chuckle out of his good fortune. Forgive him for feeling that he deserves some.

"Last year during the [Stanley Cup] Playoffs I would go to the net and that puck would never drop on my stick like that," Nash said.

Playing three years of high school hockey, Howard Shapiro discovered a few things about himself and what he wanted to become. Although Shapiro said he wasn't very good, hockey taught him lessons that he applied to his life and opened creative doors to what would be a series of books on how the game brings people closer together.

"Those three years of being a really bad player, the game itself taught me so much, things I was able to learn from playing that I applied in school and in my professional life. And friendships that last to this day," Shapiro said.

Since playing professional hockey was out of the question, Shapiro became an accountant and author. His latest release is his first hockey graphic novel, "The Hockey Saint." It's the story of 21-year-old Jeremiah Jacobson, the world's best hockey player but unprepared for the scrutiny of stardom, and his evolving friendship with college player Tom Leonard, an average sophomore trying to find his place in the world.

At 29 years old and with fewer than 650 games played in the NHL, Jeff Carter isn't the ideal for a veteran mentor.

But for young linemates Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson, Carter has served as a role model and a motivator as the three forwards have formed the most offensively explosive line in the first month of the NHL season for the Los Angeles Kings.

Entering their game Thursday against the Pittsburgh Penguins (7 p.m. ET, NHLN-US, SN360, TVA SPORTS2), Pearson (seven goals), Carter (five) and Toffoli (five) have combined for 17 of the Kings' 23 goals this season.

CHICAGO -- He'll turn 36 in January, but Marian Hossa still puts fear into opponents whenever he enters a game for the Chicago Blackhawks.

"He scares you every time he gets on the ice," said Anaheim Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau this week before his team managed to keep Hossa and the Blackhawks at bay in a 1-0 Ducks victory at United Center. "He's got a tremendous release of his shot. He's really fast, deceptively fast and strong, and he really plays the [right wing] position well."

Hossa is creeping up on 1,000 points in his 17th NHL season (465 goals and 533 assists in 1,099 games) but Boudreau wasn't just paying him lip service. He still views Hossa as a dominant two-way presence and he's not alone.

It appears Florida Panthers rookie defenseman Aaron Ekblad, the first pick in the 2014 NHL Draft, has done more than enough to prove he belongs in the NHL.

"Unless he really collapses, I don't see him going anywhere," Panthers general manager Dale Tallon told NHL.com. "I've been very impressed with his composure and maturity. Once the regular season started, he was a different guy; it was like game on and almost as if he's been around for a long time."

Tallon has until the 10th game to determine if Ekblad has what it takes to remain with the team over an 82-game schedule. He could be returned to the Barrie Colts in the Ontario Hockey League without his three-year entry-level contract kicking in at any point before his 10th game, which will likely occur Nov. 4 at TD Garden in Boston.

"He's improving and playing well, playing lots of minutes, and has some good mentors here in Willie Mitchell and Brian Campbell," Tallon said.

UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- At 6-3-0, the New York Islanders are off to their best start in 13 years. Their challenge during the next few weeks is to show this fast start is not a mirage.

The arrival of November, a month that usually includes at least one tough stretch of road games, has been a harbinger of bad things to come for the Islanders in recent years. All too often, any optimism generated in October has blown away like autumn leaves, sending the Islanders on their way to another early summer vacation. For example, a 6-5-3 start through Nov. 2 of last season collapsed under the weight of a 2-11-0 showing through the rest of the month, part of a 3-18-0 stretch that all but ended their playoff hopes.

But 2014-15 is a new season, and the Islanders are confident that this time, it's going to be different.