Matthews_scores_vsDET

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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Toronto Maple Leafs

I must start with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Auston Matthews leads the NHL with nine goals and has scored at least a goal in each of their first five games of the season, including four two-goal games. He's been dominant, as has newcomer John Tavares, who has six goals this season and had four assists in a 5-3 win against the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday.
There's four players in the NHL with 10 or more points this season and they all wear a Maple Leafs jersey. In addition to Matthews (12) and Tavares (10), defenseman Morgan Rielly (12) and forward Mitchell Marner (10) also have reached double figures. Fifteen Toronto skaters have at least a point this season. They're averaging 5.00 goals per game and are 50.0 percent (7-for-14) on the power play.
Nazem Kadri, Patrick Marleau and Zach Hyman each have four assists and no goals, but the rest of the team has made up for that. Kasperi Kapanen had nine points (seven goals, two assists) in 38 games last season, and already four points (one goal, three assists) in five games this season. He should be someone to watch this season for the Maple Leafs, who are 4-1-0 and looking every bit like the Stanley Cup contenders we thought they would be.

Can Matthews, Tavares keep pace for Maple Leafs?

Carolina Hurricanes

I said last week I thought they would be disrupters in the Eastern Conference, and one week into the season they're 3-0-1 and first in the Metropolitan Division. They're averaging 4.25 goals per game and have six players with at least two goals. The line of Jordan Staal, Warren Foegele and Justin Williams has looked really good. Rookie forward Andrei Svechnikov has fit right in with four points (two goals, two assists) in four games.
With goalie Scott Darling injured, Carolina has relied on free-agent signee Petr Mrazek and Curtis McElhinney, who was claimed on waivers Oct. 2. McElhinney is 2-0-0 and has allowed four goals on 57 shots (.930 save percentage) in two games. He could handle the load until Darling returns.
Carolina begins a three-game road trip against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday (6 p.m. ET; FS-N, FS-CR, NHL.TV), then plays the Winnipeg Jets and Tampa Bay Lightning. This will be a big early test for them, and they'll need to win some of these games if they are to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2009.

Sometimes it takes time and a whole lot of hard work before you can make the NHL and be successful. Now that Los Angeles Kings goalie Jack Campbell is getting that chance, he's determined to make the most of it.
Campbell, who was selected by the Dallas Stars in the first round (No. 11) of the 2010 NHL Draft, played one game for them, in 2013-14, and after spending the next two seasons in the minor leagues, he was traded to the Kings on June 25, 2016. Prior to this season he played six games for the Kings the past two seasons. But an injury to Jonathan Quick has opened the door and Campbell has seized his opportunity.
In three games this season he's 2-1-0 with a 1.35 goals-against average and a .966 save percentage, including a 40-save shutout against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday, his first in the NHL. Campbell has earned the trust of the coaches and it's elevated his confidence and his game. After all the time he's spent in the minors, he wants to prove he belongs in the NHL even when Quick returns. It says a lot about Campbell that the Kings called up
Peter Budaj
from Ontario of the American Hockey League when Quick was injured and remember how well he played for them in 2016-17 when Quick was out, but still are using Campbell as their starter.

LAK@MTL: Campbell makes 40 save for first NHL SO

Bergeron, Seguin lines

So far this season the two best lines have been Patrice Bergeron's with the Boston Bruins and Tyler Seguin's with the Dallas Stars.
Let's start with Bergeron and his linemates, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak. They have combined for 22 points (10 goals, 12 assists) in four games, and none averages more than 18 minutes of ice time per game. This is nothing new, as the three each scored at least 30 goals last season and Marchand and Pastrnak had at least 80 points. That continued into the playoffs with each finishing with at least 16 points in two rounds for the Bruins, who lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference Second Round.
Seguin and his linemates, Jamie Benn and Alexander Radulov, also have been dynamic in their first three games. Seguin has four points in each of his past two games, Benn has two multi-point games and Radulov has put up back-to-back three-point games, and has scored a goal in each of the Stars' three games. If they can continue their chemistry throughout the season, Dallas should be able to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in three seasons.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

It's been a rocky start for the Vegas Golden Knights, who are 1-4-0 and have been outscored 19-9 this season. They need to recommit to the traits that made them successful and hard to play against last season. They're the defending Western Conference champions so they aren't going to sneak up on anyone this season.
The Edmonton Oilers are 0-2-0 with three goals scored. Connor McDavid has one of those goals and an assist on the other two. But they'll need more than just him. If Edmonton is going to be successful like they were two seasons ago, everyone will have to contribute. That includes forwards Ty Rattie and Kailer Yamamoto, who had excellent numbers during the preseason.