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Pacific Division Round Up: A grim first week

Posted on by Haley Van Horn

So, hockey is back. Usually, we are thrilled about it. This year, the tone is a bit different. The San Jose Sharks sit dead last in the Pacific. There’s definitely time to turn this all around, but until then, let’s talk about our enemies, who are all having a much better week.

Anaheim Ducks (2-0-0)

Corey Perry joined Joe Pavelski in Dallas this season, but unlike the Sharks, they’ve come out just fine in the wake of losing veteran players. The Anaheim Ducks sit undefeated with two wins under their belt. The first came on Thursday against the Arizona Coyotes. The 2-1 victory saw goals from Cam Fowler and Derek Grant, while John Gibson made 32 saves. Let’s just pretend their game on Saturday didn’t happen.

Anaheim will face the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. Pacific.

Arizona Coyotes (0-2-0)

Okay, so the Arizona Coyotes can relate to our struggle. They are currently winless after two games. Their 2-1 loss against Anaheim saw a glimmer of hope from Derek Stepan, who scored the only Coyotes goal, and Darcy Kuemper, who made 27 saves. Game two against last year’s Stanley Cup final contenders, the Boston Bruins, was a hard fought battle. Though they were shut out 1-0, they didn’t look half bad. Their newest acquisition, American hero Phil Kessel, has yet to find the net with his new club.

Arizona must defeat the evil Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday at 7 p.m. Pacific.

Calgary Flames (1-1-0)

The Calgary Flames opened up their season with a 3-5 loss to the Colorado Avalanche where the one who got away, Joonas Donskoi, netted not one, but two goals for Colorado. Calgary had goals from Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan and Mark Giorando, but came up short. They got lucky on Saturday, however, shutting out the Vancouver Canucks 3-0. Gaudreau, Monahan and Elias Lindholm all scored for Calgary, while David Rittich saved all 34 shots put on net.

The Flames face the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday at 6 p.m. Pacific.

Edmonton Oilers (2-0-0)

Connor McDavid and his Edmonton Oilers are undefeated at the end of week one! Life is crazy! It started on Wednesday against Vancouver. The 3-2 win saw goals from Leon Draisaitl, Zack Kassian and Connor McDavid. Game two against the LA Kings was a wild one, ending in a 6-5 Edmonton win. The new guy, James Neal, had himself a pair of goals while Connor McDavid racked up a goal and three assists.

Edmonton see the New York Islanders on Tuesday at 4 p.m. Pacific.

Los Angeles Kings (0-1-0)

The Kings have only played one game so far this season and it was a doozy. Failing to make much noise during the off-season, the Kings returned to the ice with their key players in hand. For some reason Jonathan Quick still plays there? Not sure. Anyway, they put up five goals in a 6-5 loss to Edmonton. That’s the same amount of goals as they had last year alone I think! I miss the days when Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown and Drew Doughty scoring in a game like they did in Edmonton was our biggest fear. Now, we have our rivalry with Vegas and the Kings don’t really matter to us. Life comes at you fast!

The Kings head to Calgary to battle the Flames on Tuesday at 6 p.m. Pacific.

Vancouver Canucks (0-2-0)

It’s going to be a long season for the Vancouver Canucks. On Wednesday, they fell 2-3 to the Edmonton Oilers. Alexander Elder and Tanner Pearson scored in an attempt to bring their team an opening night win, but they were unsuccessful. Game two against the Calgary Flames was much worse. A 3-0 shutout isn’t exactly how you want to go out in your second game of the season. They made a Sunday evening trade, sending Alex Biega to the Detroit Red Wings for David Pope. Maybe a roster change is what they need.

They’ll hope to get their first win of the season on Wednesday against the Kings at 7 p.m. Pacific.

Vegas Golden Knights (2-0-0)

Something about the Vegas Golden Knights beating the Sharks twice in three days? I don’t know, sounds pretty toxic to me. Let’s just live in denial like healthy people do! No video highlights either. Strange!

Vegas face the Bruins at 7 p.m. Pacific on Tuesday.

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