Expectations are a tricky thing to gauge in sports.
NHL scores 2015: Stars, Oilers both mount impressive comeback wins
Dallas and Anaheim prove expectations play an enormous role.
Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Players and coaches will tell you expectations don't weigh on them. They take it one game at a time, try to follow up one good shift after the next and other platitudes. To some extent, you can believe them when they say such things. When the Ducks lose a game or give up a goal, they aren't sitting on the bench thinking about how they just failed to meet someone's preseason expectation of them.
But its when games start to pile up, good or bad, that the weight of expectations must play some sort of role in momentum. The Anaheim Ducks went into this season with their own set of expectations. They had two years of dominant regular season success and a talented team with established chemistry.
Then the losses started to pile up. They gripped their sticks a little tighter. Desperation started to set in. Post-game questions became tougher. And things they didn’t expect (inept scoring, horrible luck, blown leads late in games) continued to occur. At this point, with an NHL-worst 1-7-2 record and a hole dug deep enough to derail their season, the Ducks have to sit with the feeling their expectations might be unattainable.
And then there were the Dallas Stars, at the complete opposite end of the spectrum. Dallas' expectations (finally become contenders) were lower than Anaheim's lofty goals but heavy in their own right. They spent the offseason complimenting their elite offense by patching up their goaltending and defense. They expected to compete.
And the wins started to pile up. They played a little looser with renewed confidence in their own end of the ice. They quickly proved to themselves they can be as competitive as they expected to be. Things they didn’t expect from themselves last season (third period comebacks, timely saves, hard work rewarded by luck) began to occur. And now they sit second overall in the NHL with an 8-2-0 record.
It’s still tremendously early in the season. Both teams could make a 180-degree turnaround by April. But the pressure has already set in for both clubs, and it’s clear which team has embraced it and which team has started to crumble under it.
Scores
Hurricanes 3, Islanders 2 (OT)
Blues 2, Ducks 1
Jets 3, Blackhawks 1
Stars 4, Canucks 3 (OT)
3 things we learned
1. The Oilers earned their best win of the season
Taking down the Canadiens is hard for any team these days, but for the Edmonton Oilers to do so on home ice was no small accomplishment. Down 3-0 late in the second period, the Oilers scored four unanswered (including one by Leon Draisaitl with 1:02 left in the third) to steal a win from the NHL's best team. A huge win for a team looking like it's gaining confidence with each game. Oh, and Connor McDavid has points in his last seven games. No big deal, that kid.
2. Pittsburgh is definitely back on track
And so is that Sidney Crosby fellow, who had two assists in the first period to give the Penguins an early lead they held onto for the rest of the game. Overall it was a nice night for Penguins fans, who saw their team put together the kind of complete win they've always expected in front of their old coach Dan Bylsma. At least they gave him a nice standing ovation.
3. The Central Division is just brutal
This division just isn't fair, man. pic.twitter.com/dpU1cBD2Nd
— halloween name pun (@Pat_Iversen) October 30, 2015
Actually we already knew that. We might need an extension for this section.
4. P.K. Subban is a Jedi
There we go. Definitely didn’t know that.
Impact Moment
Some old mean Penguins fan totally intercepted a puck meant for a little kid!
Bylsma throws a puck to a young fan; old man grabs it and laughs in kids face. pic.twitter.com/JbCy0QCYpL
— Stephanie (@myregularface) October 30, 2015 That’s just heartbreaking. You know what isn’t? The kid’s face when the Penguins gave him TWO pucks and a Sidney Crosby jersey.
You deserve it, little man! pic.twitter.com/vSVPEPtWpL
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) October 30, 2015 Stat of the Night
Connor McDavid is fifth in NHL scoring. But he's still not the most impressive player in the NHL these days.
That person is Jamie Benn.
Jamie Benn leads the NHL in scoring with 17 points in 10 games. In his last 22 games dating back to last season, he has 40 points (21G, 19A)
— Mike Heika (@MikeHeika) October 30, 2015
Post to Post
- The Stars played Nickelback for the entire second period and it drove their fans insane.
- Frans Nielsen continued his hot start with an end-to-end goal.
- Finally, this one goal sums up the entire Ducks season.
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