So.Mn.Fan
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Good stuff from Burnside
For NHL coaches, the beginning of the season is like sitting down to a complex puzzle.
The sooner you can find some pieces that look like something, the better off you are.
This is especially true when it comes to forward combinations. Even teams that made few offseason changes -- the Washington Capitals are a prime example -- present myriad possibilities for coaches in finding that elusive, early chemistry. And early chemistry generally means early points, and early points mean less pressure to complete the puzzle.
Look around the NHL as teams approach the 10-game mark, and you'll notice coaches who still have pieces in their hands, desperately trying to make them fit, while others have found things falling into focus quite nicely.
The lines that are working
• Take Lindy Ruff of the Buffalo Sabres, a team that missed the playoffs in 2007-08 and was given only a medium chance of making the playoffs this season. The Sabres are undefeated in regulation after their come-from-behind victory over Boston on Tuesday night (5-0-1), in large part because of Buffalo's go-to top line.
Thomas Vanek, who scored the decisive shootout goal Tuesday, was named NHL Player of the Week and leads all players with seven goals. He has found instant karma with Derek Roy and youngster Drew Stafford. Not that this was Ruff's plan all along. He had Maxim Afinogenov on a line with Roy and Vanek for two preseason games.
"It just didn't seem to click," Ruff told ESPN.com shortly before Tuesday's win. So Ruff looked for a bigger body to replace Afinogenov and decided on Stafford, who scored his first goal of the season Tuesday. At 6-foot-2 and 202 pounds, Stafford gives that line a little more time to be creative because they can control the puck a little bit more, Ruff said.
There is, at least in theory, a domino effect in terms of finding some combinations that work. Get one line going, and it takes the pressure off the other three units. That is especially true if the so-called "big line" hasn't been producing from the outset of the season.
• In Montreal, the Canadiens are the only other team in the Eastern Conference that hasn't lost in regulation time (as of Wednesday morning) and much of the heavy lifting has been done by the line of Saku Koivu, newcomer Alex Tanguay and a slimmed-down Guillaume Latendresse. The trio has combined for 21 points, while last season's most important player, Alexei Kovalev, is off to a relatively slow start with four points in six games.
• After opening with two wins in Europe with Scott Gomez centering Chris Drury and Markus Naslund, the New York Rangers have tinkered with their "top" lines but haven't suffered in the standings. That's because Brandon Dubinsky, Nikolai Zherdev (who came over from Columbus, where he was too inconsistent for coach Ken Hitchcock) and the surprising Aaron Voros have provided consistent production for the Rangers (6-2-1). At 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, Voros has been the biggest surprise since his offseason arrival from Minnesota (five goals, four assists in nine games), providing a nice compliment to the skilled Zherdev (five points).
• In Colorado, Avalanche coach Tony Granato struck pay dirt early and he's stuck with it as Ryan Smyth, Milan Hejduk and Paul Stastny have grooved for all six games, combining for 24 points. That's a good thing given that the surprising Avs (3-3-0) are 25th in goals allowed per game.
• Over in Pittsburgh, there's no surprise the Stanley Cup finalists are still looking for their offensive karma given that top-six forwards Ryan Malone and Marian Hossa moved on in the offseason. After pairing natural center Jordan Staal on the wing with Evgeni Malkin and Petr Sykora, coach Michel Therrien moved Malkin up with captain Sidney Crosby and Pascal Dupuis. Malkin leads the league with 11 points in seven games and the Penguins are a respectable 4-2-1.
The lines that need some work
Some teams are still looking for a defined image from their line combinations, even if there is considerable talent to work with.
• It's a work in progress as the defending Southeast Division champion Capitals are off to an up-and-down 3-2-1 start. Alexander Semin has been strong with 10 points, but Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau has been looking to jump-start defending NHL scoring champ Alex Ovechkin; so he dropped sophomore center Nicklas Backstrom between Brooks Laich and Semin to start Tuesday's 2-1 loss to Calgary. Meanwhile, Boudreau moved Sergei Fedorov, who was toiling on defense for the previous three games, between Ovechkin and captain Chris Clark.
• For the Anaheim Ducks, it's been mostly a lowly start, and a lot of that has to do with the lack of production from the team's top players, Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf. Chris Kunitz started training camp with Getzlaf and Perry but was then replaced by checking forward Travis Moen before Kunitz returned to the top unit in Tuesday's shootout win over Toronto. Getzlaf didn't play thanks to a tooth problem, but Kunitz did register his first point of the season, an assist.
"What we've tried to do is that we've tried to simplify it, with those individuals, specifically Getzlaf and Perry, just to simplify and not try to do too much," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said before Tuesday's game. "And that's what we're guilty of, is individuals taking too much responsibility on themselves to do it all by themselves. If they simplify and stay within the structure and not try to do too much and not try to beat people one-on-one, not trying to do everything yourself, let the puck to do the work, move off the puck, keep it simple, drive the middle lane, shoot the puck -- those are all things we talk about."
Kunitz, Perry and Getzlaf are all looking for their first goals of the season, and the Ducks are last in the Western Conference at 2-5.
One thing is clear: Putting that first bit of the puzzle together is only the first step because it's difficult to have success when just one line is scoring.
If you have production from other lines, "there's no panic when any certain line isn't going," Ruff said.
So far so good in Buffalo.
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