Friday Four: Sabres, Senators, Canadiens off to impressive starts

Each Friday throughout the season Kevin Weekes will bring you his Friday Four. He will be blogging about four players, teams, plays or trends that have caught his eye.

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Buffalo Sabres, Ottawa Senators, Montreal Canadiens

Each team has exceeded expectations after missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season.
With the Sabres, their goaltending tandem of Carter Hutton and Linus Ullmark has been good. Forward Jeff Skinner has eight points (four goals, four assists) in his past four games, including a hat trick against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday. Center Jack Eichel has nine points (three goals, six assists) in 10 games. And forward Jason Pominville has had a resurgent season with seven points (four goals, three assists) in 10 games. And they've won without the No. 1 pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, defenseman Rasmus Dahlin (four points in 10 games), really figuring into the offense.

Who would have thought that after Erik Karlsson was traded by the Ottawa Senators, they would have a .563 points percentage (4-3-1), and that a defenseman, Thomas Chabot, would lead them in scoring? Chabot has 10 points (three goals, seven assists), and forward Chris Tierney, who joined Senators from the San Jose Sharks in the Karlsson trade, is second with nine points (two goals, seven assists). There will be some growing pains, but they are off to a nice start.
Never count out a team that has Carey Price. The goalie is one reason Montreal is 5-2-2. Coach Claude Julien has made some nice adjustments since last season, they have been harder to play against this season and everyone is buying in. Forward Max Domi leads them with 10 points (four goals, six assists), and defenseman Jeff Petry has nine points (one goal, eight assists). And they'll only get better when No. 1 defenseman Shea Weber returns sometime in November or December from June knee surgery.

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Los Angeles Kings

They still have goalie Jonathan Quick, defenseman Drew Doughty and center Anze Kopitar, but they've lost six straight (0-6-0) and have been outscored 29-8 during that span. Forward Ilya Kovalchuk hasn't been as productive as hoped, with five points (two goals, three assists) in 10 games. But it's not just him as the Kings are 31st in the NHL at 1.80 goals per game, and they aren't playing as fast as they have in the past.
Quick is 0-3-1 with a 4.55 goals-against average and .845 save percentage in four games. Despite those numbers, if he can stay healthy he likely won't be a major concern moving forward.

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St. Louis Blues

They added new players this season, among them forwards Ryan O'Reilly, Tyler Bozak and David Perron, but you can't fault general manager Doug Armstrong for how they are playing.
Defensive lapses have hurt the Blues. They're allowing 4.00 goals per game, and have allowed a League-high 18 goals in the third period.
Teams can't afford to struggle this early in the season and expect to turn it around, especially when every point matters. Remember, the Blues missed the playoffs by one point last season after a hot start.

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Tampa Bay Lightning

The Lightning are 6-1-1 but no one's really talking about them. They have great special teams; their power play is clicking at 25.8 percent and their penalty kill leads the NHL at 97.0 percent (32-for-33).
And they've done it with center Steven Stamkos tied for seventh on the Lightning with four points (one goal, three assists) in eight games, and forward Nikita Kucherov scoring three goals in eight games.

The Lightning are relying on their depth, as 19 of the 20 skaters to play in a game this season have at least one point.
And goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy is off to another strong start, at 4-1-1 with a 1.80 GAA and .941 save percentage in six games. Backup Louis Domingue is 2-0-0 with a .934 save percentage in two games.

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HONORABLE MENTIONS

The Colorado Avalanche (6-2-2) have surprised me so far. Their defense has improved (2.00 goals-against per game, first in the NHL), their goalies look good, and the top line of Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen has been great.
Speaking of surprise teams, coach Travis Green has done a great job with the Vancouver Canucks. Rookie forward Elias Pettersson had five goals in five games prior to sustaining a concussion Oct. 13, but he could be close to returning. Forward Bo Horvat has seven goals, and the Canucks are first in the Pacific Division despite being outscored 35-30 in 11 games (6-5-0). I think they can make some noise.