Sunday Standings: October is almost over already
Our first check in this season on how the NHL standings are looking
On one hand it feels like the 2024-25 NHL season just started. In a sense, it did.
On the other hand, the Pittsburgh Penguins have already completed 10 games this season and the calendar turns to November in a few days. Time flies when you’re having fun, eh?
It hasn’t been a lot of fun for the Pens just yet. After starting last season 4-6-0 in the first 10 games, they’re off too an all-too-familiar looking team and beginning at 3-6-1 this season.
How does that stack against the rest of the teams in the division? Let’s turn to the NHL’s standings sheet. Since the spread of games ranges from 7 to 11, we’ll sort by points percentage to get a more true look at how each team is doing.
Let’s go around the division quickly and check in on each club.
NY Rangers: It’s been all systems go so far to start the season in Manhattan. The Pens saw that firsthand in the 6-0 NYR win on opening night and the Rangers have used that as a launching point for what should be another solid regular season. This team won the Presidents Trophy last season, based on this start they should be right up there again as one of the NHL’s top teams.
Carolina: Ho hum, the Hurricanes are off to the start of another standard quality season for that group. Only seven games so far but a big standout is their low goals against. It seems like high scoring games and bad goaltending is all over the NHL at the beginning of the year but Carolina has proven to be immune from that with their typical workman-like performances and stingy defense.
Washington: The Capitals didn’t inspire much confidence based on unimpressive underlying numbers and a poor goal differential last season, but they’ve had a nice start to the year. Despite a 3-0 shutout loss to Tampa last night, the Capitals have improved their offensive numbers and goal output to start the season under second year head coach Spencer Carbery.
New Jersey: The Devils have been just OK so far. They made Buffalo look substandard over in Czechia in two games to start the season, but since then NJ has only won three out of their nine games back on North American ice. All things considered, they have a little more work to do at the start of the Sheldon Keefe era than the full season 89-point pace they’re currently on.
NY Islanders: True to form, the Islanders are a .500 team. Perfectly even start. They’re batting .500 in four of eight games going to OT so far too, continuing their penchant for drawing out games and leeching overtime points. (They have but one regulation win this year, you might note). Now that’s Islanders hockey; they’re going to gum it up, try and keep it close and see what happens late and if they can steal an extra point.
Columbus: You have to give a lot of respect and credit for Columbus breaking out the gates of this season at .500. They already boast wins over Colorado and Toronto this season! (The 6-2 win earlier this week against the Leafs being particularly impressive). The Blue Jackets have played the least amount of games so far, which of course means they’re about to catch back up to the pack and it’ll be interesting to see how it goes for them.
Philadelphia: After winning on opening night, the Flyers got back to their losing ways by dropping six straight contests. They finally broke the losing streak with a 7-5 victory over Minnesota last night, featuring a Sean Couturier hat trick and five point game. The Flyers are a weird mix of parts and pieces right now ambling through this season, not completely unlike the other Pennsylvania team (though neither would probably be that happy to admit it).
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It’s probably a little too early for value in playoff projections, but so far they’re feeling pretty good in New York (R), Washington and Carolina with the starts they are off to in those places. We’ll see how long those teams can stay out of the pack but as the opening calendar month of the season closes those are the only teams that are well-positioned out the gates.
For Pittsburgh, playoffs are the last thing that should be on their mind at the moment with all the major issues they have, but staying in touch and catching back up to NJ and NYI will be the key. There’s no chance of making the postseason if they end up behind both of those teams. It’s a long way to go, but it’s never too soon to keep half an eye on the Sunday Standings to keep track about what the competition is up to.