5 NHL storylines to watch this week

The NHL goes outdoors for the first time this season, Brian Boyle returns to the league and more in the storylines you need to know this week.

It feels like it’s been a long time since the hockey world has seen the Tampa Bay Lightning struggle to start a new season. On Saturday, the Lightning were thrashed by the NHL-leading Colorado Avalanche 6-2, falling to fifth in the Atlantic Division with a 4-3-1 record. After a 128-point season a year ago, a middling Lightning team is unusual to say the least in this decade of hockey.

Last season, the Lightning were 6-1-1 in their first eight games of the year, losing just 16 games in regulation through their 82-game schedule. It took them until Nov. 1 last season to get to three regulation losses on the year, while this year’s Lightning reached that three-loss mark by Oct. 20.

It’s unfair to expect the Lightning to replicate their historic NHL season from a year ago once again, though it’s for sure a sign that the powers are starting to shift across the league. Early hockey is some of the most fun during an NHL season, so here’s what we’re looking out for this week.

1. Will someone be able to halt the Avalanche?

The NHL has only one remaining unbeaten team in regulation this season, and the Avalanche may be hard to stop now that they’re rolling. In eight games so far this season, Colorado has an NHL-best 7-0-1 record, with their only loss coming at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins in overtime last week.

Colorado is firing on all cylinders right now, as their 35 goals in their first eight games leads the league and their 4.38 goals per game average also tops the NHL. Mikko Rantanen and Nathan MacKinnon are lighting up the scoresheet with 11 points each, while Philipp Grubauer has been solid in net with a .919 save percentage in six games played.

The Avalanche will face the St. Louis Blues, the Vegas Golden Knights and the Anaheim Ducks this week, a stout lineup that likely has a chance of giving Colorado their first regulation loss of the season. If the Avalanche prevail, however? Watch out.

2. Maple Leafs, Bruins go right back at it

Get ready for a heavy dose of Boston Bruins vs. Toronto Maple Leafs rivalry hockey these next few weeks. The Maple Leafs blew two leads against the Bruins on Saturday, but overall prevailed 4-3 in overtime against their Boston rivals. The hockey world will get to see the historic rivalry overall three times in the next three weeks, with their next meeting happening Tuesday in Boston, then on November 15 back in Toronto.

The hockey season is still early, but games between Boston and Toronto are often must-see matchups, with both sides boasting incredible offensive talent. The matchup between these two Atlantic Division rivals is one to watch all season long, as the two teams have deep playoff history that hardly needs explaining and are both jockeying for a postseason spot in a tough division.

The two teams sit one point away from each other in the Atlantic Division as of Monday, making their Tuesday evening matchup a must-watch for hockey fans in the middle of the week.

3. A Stanley Cup rematch in Boston

Rematches of the previous Stanley Cup Final always make for good drama over the course of a hockey season. The Blues will travel to Boston on Saturday evening in prime time on NBCSN, their first meeting since St. Louis bested the Bruins on home ice in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Emotions will no doubt be high for Bruins fans on Saturday, who saw their Stanley Cup hopes dashed earlier this year by this Blues team fresh off their first Stanley Cup in franchise history. While the Bruins have started the 2019-20 hockey season with 12 points in their first eight games, the Blues are having a more middling start by their standards with a 3-2-3 record.

Though this is not an inter-conference matchup with a deep-rooted history, the Bruins will likely have something to prove against the Blues at home after their last meeting in June ended poorly for the Boston faithful. In a slate of nine games on Saturday, this matchup between last year’s two best teams should be near the top to watch.

4. The NHL goes outdoor for the first time this season

The NHL’s outdoor games seem to have lost their luster with how many times the league touts them out per season, but we’ll see the first of three outdoor games on Saturday. The Calgary Flames and Winnipeg Jets will go outside for the 2019 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic at Mosaic Stadium in Saskatchewan on Saturday, the first Heritage Classic game since 2016.

Mosaic Stadium seats a capacity of 33,350 and usually houses the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League in-season, marking the first time the NHL has used a neutral site for a regular season outdoor game.

Unfortunately for the Eastern market, puck drop is scheduled for 10 p.m. ET on Saturday, competing with college football and the World Series in the later evening television bracket.

While the Heritage Classic will be a hard sell for the American audience with two Canadian teams and various other sports on that evening, the game should be a fun one for fans of the NHL’s outdoor games.

5. Brian Boyle returns to NHL ice

On Sunday, the Florida Panthers announced the return of 34-year-old veteran forward Brian Boyle to the league with a one-year, $940,000 deal. Through the first few weeks of the 2019-20 NHL season, Boyle remained a free agent after his two-year deal, first signed with the New Jersey Devils, expired on July 1.

Boyle will not light up the scoresheet for Florida, as he has just 216 points in 766 career NHL games, but will add a veteran presence to the Panthers’ core in need of some guidance. In eight games this season, the Panthers are 3-2-3 and sit at sixth in the Atlantic Division. Florida’s new head coach, Joel Quenneville, has had a rough go of it early in the season, as the team was expected to take strides forward under their new bench boss.

In 2017-18, Boyle was awarded the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for dedication to the sport of hockey following a chronic myeloid leukemia diagnosis.

The Panthers take on the Pittsburgh Penguins at home on Tuesday, marking a potential return date for the veteran and his feel-good story to the NHL.