NHL Weekly: Reinhart & Gustavsson steal the headlines as two Latvians scrap it out
Most productive player
Florida is without injured captain Aleksander Barkov and ailing star Matthew Tkachuk, but they're still winning. The scoring credit goes mostly to Sam Reinhart, who has nine points from four games - four goals and five assists.
In addition, the Panthers triumphed on three occasions last week. Reinhart's +7 record was also the best in the entire NHL.
Goaltender of the week
It's hard to point to anyone other than Minnesota's Swedish goaltender Filip Gustavsson for our goaltender of the week.
On Tuesday, the 26-year-old swept the entire rink with his shot on the final power play for a game-winning goal against St. Louis to close the match at 4-1. "Maybe I should be in the power play meetings," he told ESPN after the game with a smile.
He also had more goals scored than, say, Auston Matthews or Connor McDavid at the time he scored. And because he tallied in the power play, he had scored more power-play goals than Anaheim, Carolina, Toronto and Buffalo had up to that point.
As far as his goaltending numbers go, he only conceded two goals in two games and saved 50 shots with a 96.2% save percentage.
Highlight of the week
The Buffalo Sabres started the year with three losses, scoring only three goals. On Monday, there was a heated argument between captain Rasmus Dahlin and forward Peyton Krebs at practice.
The clash reportedly started off with Krebs' high stick, only to have the Swedish captain subsequently knock him down on the ice before a brawl ensued.
"This wasn't a collision, Dahlin clearly went for it and he went for the fight too. You don't normally see hits like that at practice," former defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo wrote on social network X about the incident.
And since the whole clash was caught on camera, the incident got quite a bit of publicity. Dahlin apologized to the Canadian forward after the game and said he blamed himself for the collision and the fight. And all was well again.
"Boys will be boys," coach Lindy Ruff said, taking it all in stride.
Stat of the week
Before the start of the season, Colorado and Nashville were among the teams that were aiming for the highest honours this season. But neither got off to a good start, at all. Both started the year 0-4-0, and no team with that same start has ever won the Stanley Cup.
Colorado have now grabbed their first win but Nashville still haven't - adding another defeat for five losses, they are the only team that still don't have a point in the NHL. Yet they acquired Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei over the summer and were touted as the biggest winners in the transfer market.
Social media highlight
And once again, the gloves are off. There are only three Latvian hockey players currently in the NHL, yet two of them battled it out on Thursday.
During a heated situation near the boards, Florida's Uvis Balinskis grabbed Vancouver's Teddy Blueger, thinking he and his friend would be safe, but it ended with gloves off. However, after the game, the friends were hugging and smiling again.
In addition, Blueger admitted he had no idea he had lunged at his friend and teammate from the 2017 and 2018 World Championships.
Photo of the week
Toronto-born forward Luke Evangelista may play in Nashville's colours in the NHL, but when you're born in Toronto - one of the great hockey cities in the world - it's usually clear from a young age who you'll be rooting for.
The first jersey Evangelista owned as a boy was that of defenseman Luke Schenn, the man with whom the 22-year-old forward now plays on the same team. And he was even there when the seasoned defenseman appeared in his 1,000th NHL game on Thursday and scored his 1,001st goal in front of family and friends on Saturday.
Ladislav Smid's hot take
"The week was lit up for me by two milestones in Pittsburgh, Sidney Crosby's 1,600th point and Evgeni Malkin's 500th goal. For me, they are one of the best duos in history, unreal players!
"Malkin and I are the same age, I've played a lot against him in the youth national teams and he always stood out from the others. A difference maker. Which, even at an advanced age, he's still showing in the NHL, plus he's won the Stanley Cup three times.
"Crosby is definitely one of the greatest professionals in hockey. He's a classic poster boy for Canada, I have to say that everyone here loves him, the players respect him and even most of the young players from the current era, when asked who their favourite player is, it's him.
"He's played at the highest level his whole career, he touches every detail, there's no drama or negative buzz around him, just the ultimate professional. If I had to build a team around someone, he would probably be the first person I would choose.
"And I'm proud to have played against such legends in the NHL myself."