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Sure, it might be blasphemy to say so, but does this look familiar? Bobby Orr, meet Seth Griffith. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?

When the Toronto Maple Leafs and Philadelphia Flyers opened the season without heavyweight enforcers, it simply underlined where the game is trending these days.

To wit, the total number of fighting majors through Tuesday's games was down 20 percent compared to the same number of games (135) a year ago.

If you go back to the first 135 games in October 2003, fighting majors are down 44 percent.

That's no coincidence. The NHL returned from the 2004-05 lockout as a different beast: a salary-cap world where the juggling of finances at times sacrificed the traditional enforcer as the brand of the game on the ice -- as skilled and fast as ever -- has made teams rethink the way they build their rosters.

Today's embracing of analytics by most NHL teams also factors in, as most heavyweight enforcers are not known for their strong Corsi rating.

Fighting remains part of the game, to be sure. Look no further than Sunday night's dustup of a game between the Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks as a reminder that it's still part of the fabric.

But when Toronto demoted heavyweights Colton Orr and Frazer McLaren before the season and Philadelphia did the same with Jay Rosehill, there was a clear message sent. Two organizations that have traditionally had heavyweight enforcers were going without.

"The games are so close," Flyers general manager Ron Hextall told ESPN.com on Wednesday. "I think we all rely on our top players a lot, and at points I think too much, so I think giving your so-called fourth line a couple of extra minutes, or maybe an extra three to four minutes, is becoming bigger and bigger. The guys there have to be good hockey players. I'm not saying our guy [Rosehill] that we demoted wasn't a good hockey player, but we were just looking for a few more minutes from those fourth-line guys."

In a copycat league, look at the Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings. There's no goon on that team. Yet they are one of the most physically imposing teams around. They have Matt Greene, Jordan Nolan and Kyle Clifford who drop the gloves and protect their teammates. But those guys are good hockey players too.

The Kings' fourth-line players, such as Clifford and Trevor Lewis, can also move up and down the lineup if need be for injuries or in-game matchups. You can't do that with traditional enforcers.

It's a realization that was made in Toronto.

"Colton worked hard and brought other elements besides fighting," Leafs GM Dave Nonis told ESPN.com on Wednesday. "He did a good job for us and did play in the playoffs when fighting wasn't part of the game. But the actual minutes that we're trying to pull out of our fourth line and the combinations that we want available for the coaches has lent itself to a different style of player right now."

The Leafs were essentially a three-line team on most nights last season, Orr and McLaren playing limited minutes. The best teams in this league are truly four-line teams. It's what the Leafs aspire to, and at the very least, they hope they have options on their fourth line that can lead to more flexibility.

"There are different options there for us now, different options for the third and fourth line and even the second line, for that matter," said Nonis. "You see a guy like [Daniel] Winnik play on the second line or the third or fourth line. Those options were not available to [Leafs coach] Randy [Carlyle] before.

"You look at a lot of the teams that have had success the last couple of years. They're getting minutes out of their fourth line, and they're not just two or three minutes; sometimes it's 10 or 12 minutes. And players are moving up and down the lineup. That's the direction I think the league is moving in."

The Detroit Red Wings were ahead of the curve in this way, beginning with their Cup titles in 1997 and '98.

"One of our strengths was our ability to roll four lines and get contributions over the grind of 82 games and, especially in the playoffs, get that secondary scoring that took the pressure off [Steve] Yzerman, [Brendan] Shanahan and [Sergei] Fedorov," Wings GM Ken Holland told ESPN.com on Wednesday. "We had toughness built into the middle of those teams with guys like Shanahan, with guys like [Darren] McCarty, with guys like [Martin] Lapointe. I'm not against fighting, [but] we didn't have the toughness on the fringes. We had it built in the middle of the team. And then in the 2000s, and coming out of the 2005 work stoppage, I continued to have that philosophy that I wanted to have four lines who could contribute.

"The desire to have a fourth line who can chip in offensively in a secondary role, or kill penalties, or be able to check the other team's top six forwards to take pressure off your top offensive forwards, really that’s been the driving force behind any decisions that we've made in putting together the Detroit Red Wings."

Sometimes, trends reverse. The "new NHL" of 2005-06, with so many power plays and so much wide-open play, saw only 0.38 fights per game, down dramatically from 0.64 fights per game in 2003-04. But that number came back up to 0.60 fights a game in 2008-09 -- the highest average since 2004.

Since 2008-09, however, the number has decreased again, fights per game falling under 0.50 a game for each season after 2011.

Last season, fights per game were down to 0.38 per game, the lowest since 2005-06.

Hard not to think that trend will continue.

There are plenty of questions surrounding the future of Toronto Maple Leafs coach Randy Carlyle, but is Will Arnett ready for the job? The Leafs’ fan takes over the team for the day with some unique lineup decisions.

DALLAS -- If you're having a hard time getting a handle on the St. Louis Blues, you're not alone.

Coach Ken Hitchcock is at a bit of a loss to figure out just what he's got with his bacterially challenged, banged-up squad as the Blues try to scramble their way through the opening stages of this still-young season.

Despite a 4-3 overtime win over the Dallas Stars on Tuesday that saw the Blues battle back three times from one-goal deficits, Hitchcock wondered aloud if this was going to be a season of challenges after last season saw the Blues go most of the season with a consistent lineup.

"We have no idea what type of team we have," Hitchcock said after Tuesday's win.

"This might be one of those years where we're just going to have to scramble to stay afloat. You don't know. We didn't have any adversity last year until the last two weeks, and then we just got bombed with it. But this one is different. We've had nothing but an unsettled roster both at practice and games since the second game of the season."

Certainly, on paper, the Blues who signed top free-agent center Paul Stastny and added highly regarded Finnish forward Jori Lehtera to the lineup in the offseason, looked to better than the team that was considered a Stanley Cup challenger before being knocked off in the first round of last spring's playoffs by the Chicago Blackhawks.



Stastny has been terrific when he's been in the lineup, but he was absent Tuesday and has played in just four games thus far.

Captain David Backes left Tuesday's game with an upper-body injury after playing just 4:48 -- he did not return in the first period after taking a hit (from Trevor Daley) and banging his helmeted head on the ice -- and will be evaluated by doctors when the team returns to St. Louis.

Defenseman Carl Gunnarsson played in his first game for the Blues after being acquired from Toronto in the offseason.

Heading into Tuesday's game, only one Blue had more than two goals (Jaden Schwartz with 5).

On top of the injuries, the team has battled a minor bacterial epidemic that has zapped players of energy and made it tough to keep them in good enough shape to take the ice.

"When you're losing key players on a weekly basis, it seems like of late ... every guy gets a little bit more ice time, every guy tries a little bit harder," forward Steve Ott said. "But still, those guys are irreplaceable for the time being."

Not that everything is doom and gloom.

If there is one thing that's abundantly clear, it's that Lehtera and Vladimir Tarasenko have compelling chemistry that could go a long way to smoothing out any rough patches the Blues face.

Tarasenko was a force Tuesday, scoring three times on brilliant shots, including the overtime winner on a power play. Lehtera assisted on Tarasenko's first two goals and then scored one himself, with help from Tarasenko.

The two played together for parts of two seasons in Russia, and they live in the same building in St. Louis.

"I know he's a good player, that's why I want to pass him the puck every time I get it," Lehtera said after Tuesday's game. "He can pass and shoot and challenge one-on-one all at the same time. You never know what he’s going to do."

If Tarasenko, who has one of the most dangerous shots in the game, is at least a known (if evolving) quantity, Lehtera is less so.

The big forward with blazing speed might be the most interesting piece of a potentially compelling Blues puzzle. The Blues' third-round pick in 2008, Lehtera is just now making his way to the NHL.

Ott said he saw the connection between Lehtera and Tarasenko right from the start during summer practice sessions.

"All of a sudden, you're like, oh, wow, these guys could really have something here," Ott said. "You'll see it the rest of the way. Lehtera's such a smart hockey player. There's no fluke or mystery why he's back here and wanting to come and compete in the NHL. He's that good of a hockey player."

Hitchcock knew Lehtera would be a part of the team.

"I knew at the start that Lehtera was going to be a guy that could find a way into the program," the coach said. "I didn't know if he was going to be a 1, a 2 or a 3 [center], but I knew he was going to be something."

Something indeed.

This is what it takes to win in the National Hockey League. Take it away, Don't-Have Teeth, er, Duncan Keith.

TORONTO -- As Josh Gorges gets set to hear the boos from Toronto Maple Leafs fans Tuesday night, we are here to argue that people should be commending him for his raw honesty rather than questioning his decision.

In an era when we wish modern athletes would pretend to care about the uniform they're wearing like the players of yesteryear did, Gorges was saying just that when he turned down a proposed trade from the Montreal Canadiens to rival Toronto in the summer.

After giving his heart to the Canadiens for years, he simply could not envision emptying the emotional tank for the rival Leafs, whom he grew to hate because of the team he played for. He felt he would be cheating Toronto, frankly, by accepting that trade.

"I really, honestly believe that," Gorges said Tuesday after the morning skate at the Air Canada Centre before his Buffalo Sabres took on Toronto. "The only reason I ever got to this league is because I had to be a heart-and-soul guy, give-it-everything-I-got type of player. That's what gave me a good opportunity in Montreal all those years.

"Could I have given that to Toronto? Maybe over time, but I don't think I could have done it right away. And it wouldn't have been fair to them."

It's what Gorges told Brendan Shanahan when the Leafs president tried to sway the veteran defenseman to accept the deal.

"I told him when we spoke on the phone that, for me to be any type of good player for any team, 'I got to play with emotion, I got to play with heart, and I don’t know if I'd be doing you guys any favors by [accepting the deal]. And I don't know if I could live with myself as a person,'" said Gorges. "I believe that every day you come to work, you give it everything you got and you can feel good about yourself. If I come to a team where I don't feel like I'm giving everything I got, how do I feel at the end of the day? It's not a good feeling to come home and think, 'I kind of half-assed it tonight.' And so that played the majority of the part in my decision."

What Gorges didn't know at the time but would later find out is that his pal Cody Franson was potentially going the other way as part of the Habs-Leafs deal.

Franson rented a place right next door to Gorges over the summer in Kelowna, British Columbia, where many NHL players spend their summers, and the irony wasn't lost on either player.

"We talked a little bit ... but I don't want to say too much after that," Franson said, smiling, on Tuesday morning when asked how that conversation would have gone about the trade that nearly was.

At the time, Gorges was still in Montreal when all this was going down while Franson was in Kelowna.

"It was an interesting day," said Franson. "Those are tough rumors not to hear. Those are ones that show up right on your front door step, if you will. It comes down to what you can control. If they're going to make a move that they feel betters the team, they're going to do it. That's out of my hands. I just approached my day normally and kept my phone close."

Instead, Franson remained a Leaf and Gorges eventually accepted a deal to the Sabres, one of the teams that he added to his expanded "yes" list dictated by his limited no-trade clause.

The Sabres weren't the team that topped his list, perhaps, but he also didn't want the saga to drag on forever.

"After a few days of trying to get something to happen with teams that were on my list, at that point you're thinking, 'You can't keep doing this. You can't keep sitting in limbo,'" said Gorges. "At the time, my wife was five days away from giving birth. I didn't think we needed that kind of stress. So let's get it done."

One of the toughest parts was talking to all his friends on the Canadiens. Gorges was a very popular player in that room. It was hard to say goodbye.

"At the time, you're like, 'Why? What are the reasons? Why me?'" said Gorges of how his conversations went with Habs players after the trade. "But then you get to a point where it doesn't matter why. I don't need to know why. It doesn't do anything for me moving forward. You turn the page."

Fact is, for all the hype about Gorges’ game in Toronto on Tuesday night, the reality is his first game back in Montreal on Nov. 29 will be when the butterflies really get going.

"Coming back to Montreal for the first time will be more of an emotional game," said Gorges.

Besides, as far as the game here in Toronto, maybe Leafs fans have already forgotten.

"I doubt it," said Gorges, chuckling. "This is always an energetic building to play in. There's always lots of noise, lots of emotion. I expect nothing less tonight."

Gorges accepted his deal to the Sabres with eyes wide open. He knows they are rebuilding. But he also feels they are better than what they have shown to start the season.

"It's tough to lose anytime. You look at the start that we've had, it's not the one that we wanted at all," said Gorges. "So that's been tough to deal with because you want to win. But at the same time, I think we all understand that there's room for improvement and that's a good thing.

"If we thought this was the best we could play and we lose, then you're in trouble. But I think this team has a lot more to give and a lot more to show. And I think that's promising. We can turn this around and start moving in the right direction."

Anyone dressing up as Barry Melrose for Halloween? How about your favorite NHL player?

Send us pictures of your Halloween costume to @ESPN_NHL using #espnnhllive!

We're ready @BDillon04 @CodyEakin50 @jamiebenn14 pic.twitter.com/Uqgy3WgqjM

— Tyler Seguin (@tseguinofficial) October 26, 2014

Kristoff, Anna, Sven, Hans, Olaf & Elsa ready to visit the kids @BostonChildrens ! pic.twitter.com/VC7M5AKIqL

— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) October 27, 2014

Dougie Hamilton, Torey Krug, Seth Griffith, Matt Fraser, Kevan Miller & Matt Bartkowski on B's annual Halloween visit pic.twitter.com/UOv9Q9g8tU

— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) October 27, 2014

Halloween 2014 with @vanmorganxo

A photo posted by Nathan Mackinnon (@mackinnon29) on Oct 10, 2014 at 8:49am PDT

Fun time last nite at the team Halloween party!Big thanks to @Teampip and @DesignByAlliT for my transformation #joker pic.twitter.com/5YjJV5Vzl1

— Jonathan Huberdeau (@JonnyHuby11) October 27, 2014

pic.twitter.com/FhLycNJRCU

— 235=89 0;:8= (@malkin71_) October 20, 2014

pic.twitter.com/70LTXnJag6

— 235=89 0;:8= (@malkin71_) October 20, 2014

#habs PK Subban's costume pic.twitter.com/DCuQd8Mmgg

— Deidre Matthews (@ddmatthews) October 23, 2014

#habs David Desharnais costume (photo Amelie Gilbert) pic.twitter.com/gn1YQVuVBZ

— Deidre Matthews (@ddmatthews) October 23, 2014

I've moved on from fighting fellow skaters, now I'm fighting scarers! #HorrorNights #enforceuniversal pic.twitter.com/g77CR7mEoF

— George Parros (@GeorgeParros) October 20, 2014

I write this column knowing full well the next time I run into NHL commissioner Gary Bettman he will wag a finger at me.

The NHL is about as healthy as it's ever been, which you can't really argue with, so the commish will wonder why I bothered with this column.

But I can't help myself. Just because the league is, generally speaking, in a good place, it doesn't mean it's perfect. Um, far from it.

As such, without further ado, here are changes I would enact in the NHL if I had the singular power to do so:

• Earlier schedule: Begin the regular season no later than Sept. 20, which would ensure the Stanley Cup finals to be over no later than May 31. The kids are back in school in September, vacation is over, let's drop the puck already. And who likes hockey games in June? Just silly. There would be resistance to this for sure -- heck, one southern team governor once pondered at an owners meeting the merits of starting the NHL season in late November so as to not conflict with the baseball playoffs and the start of the NFL season. I'm sorry, but you're either a hockey fan or you're not. Drop the puck Sept. 20 and don't worry about what the other sports are doing. No games in June!
• Move free agency: Change the date of the start of free agency from July 1 to the day after the NHL draft. So for example, this season the NHL draft in South Florida wraps up Saturday, June 27. I would open up free agency Sunday, June 28, keep all the front office staffs from the 30 NHL teams in the same rink for the first day (or maybe two) of free agency and make it one big spectacle for TV and social media. After all, many of the industry's player agents are also on hand for the draft, so they're right there ready to negotiate deals with general managers. Baseball's winter meetings create a nice buzz by having GMs and agents in the same place. This would be hockey's version. But just as important, the start of free agency would no longer be on July 1, a Canadian national holiday. I've always found it ridiculous that the NHL conducted some of its most important business on this holiday, and just a few days before the July 4 U.S. national holiday (the day Zach Parise and Ryan Suter signed in Minnesota in 2012). Let’s get the free-agent business out of the way before both national holidays. By the way, the NHL did actually try to change the date for the opening of free agency during CBA talks with the NHLPA last go-around, but the league's solution was actually to delay the start until later in July, which was a no-go with the players' union (the last thing the players want is to shorten the window for free agents to find jobs). Now, if my first suggestion (last hockey game played by May 31) went through, moving free agency up in June would be a no-brainer anyway.
• Trade deadline buzz: Let's also make the NHL trade deadline an actual live spectacle by assembling all 30 front offices in the same place for three days (let's say Boca Raton, Florida) -- the two days leading up plus the big day. The actual trade conversations would still be behind closed doors in hotel rooms, but imagine all the live announcements in the same place. It’s about buzz, buzz, buzz! (Believe it or not, Bettman once asked the room at an NHL GMs meeting years ago about this idea -- I think just to humor me -- and the NHL commissioner reported back that there was absolutely zero interest in it. Ouch.)
• Play-in game: Stage a "play-in" game for the final playoff wild-card spot in each conference. There’s so much parity in this league, why not allow the eight- and ninth-seeded teams in each conference to play it out for the right to make the playoffs. OK, so I’m stealing from baseball here, but I think the one-game wild card has been a huge hit in MLB. I think it would be the same for the NHL.
• Cancel the All-Star Game: Honestly, is anyone really going to argue against this? The emergence of the Jan. 1 Winter Classic as a way to better celebrate the game midseason has made the snooze-fest known as the All-Star Game a completely useless entity. Enough already, let’s get rid of it. If nothing else, it would allow the NHL’s schedule-maker more days to play with as he can spread out the games.
• NHL expansion: Expand to Seattle and Quebec City over the next five years. Obviously there is an arena issue in Seattle that needs a solution, but that's what the lawyers get paid for. In addition, I would line up Toronto as the No. 1 contender for a relocated team, charging them a relocation fee resembling what Seattle and Quebec City would have paid for an expansion team. Yes, the Toronto Maple Leafs are going to make it ugly perhaps in terms of legal action, but maybe there are indemnity fees that would appease them. Money talks.

Now, some on-ice alterations:

• Power-play faceoffs: For power plays that carry over to the next period, drop the puck to start the period in the offensive zone. We’re all in favor of finding new ways to create offense, right? Let the team with the man advantage get right down to business at the start of the period. This has actually been talked about internally in the past by NHL hockey operations but hasn’t garnered traction.
• Stay in the box: Before the 1956-57 season, the NHL changed the rule that allowed a player serving a minor penalty to leave the box if a goal is scored on his team. Again, in a league where we are looking to create more offense, why not revert back a half century and make a player sit out the entire two-minute penalty even if a goal is scored on the power play? Others have suggested this as well over the years, so I’m hardly breaking new ground here, but it’s something I’ve been in favor of for a long time.
• Get rid of the trapezoid: Give hockey ops, NHL GMs and the competition committee credit; they did change the dimensions of it for this season in order to give goalies more room to maneuver with the puck. But why not go all the way and eliminate it completely? The trapezoid was worth a try when it came into effect in 2005, the idea being that goalies who were really good at playing the puck nullified a good forecheck. But in the end, the number of injuries caused by defensemen getting hammered by oncoming traffic, to me, outweighs it. Let’s go back to life before the trapezoid.
• Get rid of the shootout: It’s been fun for a decade but it has run its course. It's a gimmick. Extend overtime if you like -- four-on-four OT is a blast to watch, let's get more of it. If the game ends tied, so be it. We lived with tie games for a huge chunk of hockey history, and I'm pretty sure the game between the Soviet Red Army and Montreal Canadiens on New Year's Eve in 1975 wasn't tarnished by ending in a 3-3 tie.
• Fix the standings: And if you can't get rid of the shootout -- and I suspect it won't happen anytime soon because many fans still love it -- then let's make a regulation-time victory worth three points in the standings, an OT/SO win worth two points and an OT/SO loss worth one point. It seems to me that the better teams in the NHL should be more accurately rewarded for winning 60-minute games. The cream should be allowed to rise to the top. I can tell you what the counterargument is to this: People want the NHL standings to stay as close as they have been. But to me, those "close" standings are not a true reflection of the NHL competition, as the loser points are keeping too many teams closer to the better teams.

Oh, I’ve got other ideas, but this would be a start if I ever had my way. Dare to dream, right?

From the official NHL release:

CARTER, SCRIVENS AND NIELSEN NAMED NHL ‘THREE STARS’ OF THE WEEK

NEW YORK (Oct. 27, 2014) – Los Angeles Kings center Jeff Carter, Edmonton Oilers goaltender Ben Scrivens and New York Islanders center Frans Nielsen have been named the NHL’s “Three Stars” for the week ending Oct. 26.

FIRST STAR – JEFF CARTER, C, LOS ANGELES KINGS

Carter tied for the League lead with six points (2-4—6) in two outings to help the Kings (6-1-1, 13 points) complete a perfect six-game homestand for the first time in franchise history. He opened the week with 1-1—2, including his 54th career game-winning goal, in a 2-0 victory over the Buffalo Sabres Oct. 23. Carter then set a career high with three assists and matched a career high with four points in a 5-2 triumph over his former team, the Columbus Blue Jackets, Oct. 26. The 29-year-old London, Ont., native has compiled 5-7—12 and a +12 rating in eight games this season, including an even or plus rating in each contest. Playing alongside Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson, the trio known as “That ’70s Line” has combined for 16 of the Kings’ 21 goals (excluding shootout tallies) and a +32 rating in 2014-15.

SECOND STAR – BEN SCRIVENS, G, EDMONTON OILERS

Scrivens posted a 3-0-0 record with a 2.33 goals-against average and .920 save percentage to lead the Oilers (3-4-1, 7 points) to their first three-game winning streak since Jan. 26-29. He made 22 saves in a 3-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning Oct. 20, a season-high 32 saves in a 3-2 triumph over the Washington Capitals Oct. 22 and 27 saves in a 6-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes Oct. 24. The 28-year-old Spruce Grove, Alta., native is 3-3-0 with a 3.31 goals-against average and .882 save percentage in seven appearances this season. This marks the second time in Scrivens’ 79-game NHL career that he has posted a personal winning streak of at least three games; he won a career-high four consecutive games from Nov. 14-19, 2013, while with the Los Angeles Kings.

THIRD STAR – FRANS NIELSEN, C, NEW YORK ISLANDERS

Nielsen tied for the League lead with four goals in three games to power the Islanders (6-2-0, 12 points) to a pair of victories, helping the team match its best eight-game start in the last 31 years (2001-02: 6-0-1-1). He collected one assist in a 5-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs Oct. 21 and then chipped in his first goal of the season in a 3-2 victory over the Boston Bruins Oct. 23. With the game tied 4-4 after 40 minutes, Nielsen scored three third-period goals – including the game-winner – to record his first career hat trick and lift the Islanders to a 7-5 triumph over the Dallas Stars Oct. 25. The 30-year-old Herning, Denmark, native has 4-4—8 in eight games this season; he posted a career-high 25 goals, 33 assists and 58 points in 2013-14.

Trending up

• Montreal Canadiens: The Habs continue to pace the competition in the Eastern Conference, riding a four-game winning streak into this week. Montreal has won seven of eight games to start the season, including a key victory against the New York Rangers over the weekend that was a rematch of last spring’s Eastern Conference finals. Goaltender Carey Price, who many have predicted would have a Vezina-caliber season, has surrendered only four goals in his past three starts.
• Frans Nielsen: One of the most underrated two-way players in the league, the 30-year-old Dane recorded his first career hat trick to propel the New York Islanders past the Dallas Stars in the team’s 7-5 win Saturday night. Centering a line with offseason additions Nikolai Kulemin and Mikhail Grabovski could serve Nielsen well, and if the Isles continue their strong start to the season, Nielsen might receive the type of recognition he is due.
• Detroit Red Wings' penalty kill: Granted, the Wings’ penalty-kill surrendered its first power-play goal of the season in a 4-2 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday, but the group remains tops in the league with a 96.2 success rate (25-for-26). What stood out the most was the Red Wings' ability to stymie the league’s most dangerous power-play unit, that of the Pittsburgh Penguins, on all three attempts Thursday night.

Trending down

• Carolina Hurricanes: We’re beginning to sound like a broken record, aren’t we? Hard not to mention the Canes, though, because the embattled squad has yet to record its first win of the season and has dropped three straight in regulation. The pile of injuries certainly does not help, but it really feels as if it's only a matter of time before the Eric Staal trade rumors really heat up.
• Randy Carlyle: An offseason of upheaval in Toronto left many surprised that Carlyle kept his gig behind the bench for the Leafs. It sure seems he's still on the hot seat, with his team struggling out of the gates and looking rather uninspired. The Leafs have dropped three of four games at home, and the crowd at the Air Canada Centre voiced its displeasure with a round of boos over the weekend following the team’s 4-1 loss to the Bruins. Could Carlyle’s job be in danger soon?

Injury report

• It was a scary scene for the already-injury-ravaged Columbus Blue Jackets as they saw forward Nick Foligno stretchered off the ice after a freak collision with a linesman during a game against the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday. Team president John Davidson told reporters later that Foligno is expected to be OK, but a timeline for his return has yet to be determined.
• The Isles have been without one of their top defensemen, Travis Hamonic, for the last two games, the type of injury that threatened to devastate the team in years past. But general manager Garth Snow’s addition of Johnny Boychuk and Nick Leddy greatly bolstered the depth of the team’s blue line, allowing the team to fill the void in Hamonic’s absence. It also helps that Lubomir Visnovsky made his season debut last week as well. The veteran puck-mover chipped in with a goal and an assist in the team’s most recent win against the Stars.
• Boston Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli confirmed the fans’ biggest fears when he announced that captain Zdeno Chara will miss four to six weeks with a ligament tear in his left knee. If there's any player on that team who is considered absolutely irreplaceable, it’s Chara.

What to watch For

• Now we will see what the Islanders are really made of, because they head west this week to take on some of the biggest, baddest competition in the league. Though the Isles currently lead the Metropolitan Division with a 6-2 record, their five-game road trip beginning Thursday features stops in Colorado, San Jose, Anaheim and Los Angeles. It will be interesting to see how things stand when they return.
• How will Boston fare without Chara? The team has already seen its blue line diminished -- namely by the trade of Boychuk to Long Island, but playing without their most imposing defender will be their biggest challenge yet. Look for coach Claude Julien to lean heavily on guys like Dennis Seidenberg and Adam McQuaid as well as youngsters Dougie Hamilton and Torey Krug.

Trending up

• Los Angeles Kings: That’s the way to finish a six-game homestand, eh? The defending Stanley Cup champions closed out an extended stay at Staples Center with an unblemished 6-0-0 record after Sunday’s 5-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. A formidable feat for the Kings, especially with the lingering distraction of Slava Voynov’s indefinite suspension. No surprise that the 70s line continues to dominate. Jeff Carter (No. 77), Tanner Pearson (70) and Tyler Toffoli (73) remain one of the most effective lines in hockey right now, combining for 10 points Sunday.
• Patrick Kane: The Blackhawks’ electrifying young superstar assisted on captain Jonathan Toews’ second-period marker on Sunday to pick up his 500th career point. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, only eight active NHL players have reached that milestone faster. It’s a pretty remarkable feat considering Kane is just 25 years old and entering the prime of his career. His eight-year contract extension will kick in next summer. How many more points will he record in his NHL career? Mind-boggling to consider.
• Edmonton Oilers: Granted, the Oilers pretty much had nowhere to go but up, but let’s give credit where it is due because the beleaguered squad has rattled off three straight wins. The Oilers have put up 12 goals over that span -- six of which came in their most recent victory against the downtrodden Carolina Hurricanes on Friday -- and have had the weekend off to rest and recover before beginning the week with a match against the Montreal Canadiens at home.

Trending down

• Colorado Avalanche offense:: Although the Avs pounded the Canucks on Friday, they have dropped five of their past six games and seen their offense struggle spectacularly. Getting goaltender Semyon Varlamov back should help the team get back on track, but he won’t help fill the net at the other end. Before a seven-goal outburst against Vancouver to start the weekend, Colorado managed just 12 goals in the first seven games. Most recently? The Avs suffered a 2-1 overtime loss to the Winnipeg Jets, a team with its own host of offensive issues.
• Dallas Stars defense: The Stars have given up six or more goals in two of their past four games, a frightening trend for this team despite its stunning offensive potential. It's hard to heap the blame on the Stars’ goaltending tandem of Kari Lehtonen and Anders Lindback. Dallas currently ranks 28th in the league in goals against, giving up an average of 3.50 goals per game. The only teams below it? Carolina and Edmonton. That’s pretty dubious territory.

Injury report

• The severity of the upper-body injury that forced Anze Kopitar from Sunday’s game against the Jackets is not immediately clear, but losing the 2014 Selke Trophy finalist for any chunk of time, especially with the Kings heading out on a six-game road trip this week, would be costly for the defending champs. Being without their strongest two-way forward would be tough, especially considering the team is already dealing with injuries to Marian Gaborik and Trevor Lewis.
• Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford has missed four consecutive games with an upper-body injury but is reportedly improving, according to ESPNChicago.com’s Scott Powers. The 29-year-old netminder is expected to be re-evaluated early this week and could eye a return soon. Not so for gritty winger Daniel Carcillo. Coach Joel Quenneville told reporters this past weekend that Carcillo is expected to miss at least a few weeks with a lower-body injury suffered in Saturday’s 3-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues.

What to watch for

• Tough trip: Reeling from a fight-filled loss to their Pacific Division foe from San Jose, the Anaheim Ducks embark on a daunting four-game road trip this week. After seeing their seven-game winning streak end at the hands of the Sharks, Anaheim must now go through some of the league’s toughest competition with stops in Chicago, St. Louis, Dallas and Colorado.
• Flames on rise: Not many people would expect the Calgary Flames to be among the top three teams in the Pacific Division, yet there they are just two points behind the Kings and three behind the Ducks. The Flames have two games against the high-flying Montreal Canadiens in the next week, which should serve as a good litmus test to determine whether this Calgary team is for real.

Anyone dressing up as Barry Melrose for Halloween? How about your favorite NHL player?

Send us pictures of your Halloween costume to @ESPN_NHL using #espnnhllive!

pic.twitter.com/FhLycNJRCU

— 235=89 0;:8= (@malkin71_) October 20, 2014

pic.twitter.com/70LTXnJag6

— 235=89 0;:8= (@malkin71_) October 20, 2014

#habs PK Subban's costume pic.twitter.com/DCuQd8Mmgg

— Deidre Matthews (@ddmatthews) October 23, 2014

#habs David Desharnais costume (photo Amelie Gilbert) pic.twitter.com/gn1YQVuVBZ

— Deidre Matthews (@ddmatthews) October 23, 2014

I've moved on from fighting fellow skaters, now I'm fighting scarers! #HorrorNights #enforceuniversal pic.twitter.com/g77CR7mEoF

— George Parros (@GeorgeParros) October 20, 2014

Before the Pittsburgh Penguins-Philadelphia Flyers game, the crowd at the Consol Energy Center sang along to "O Canada" in a sign of support after the shootings in Ottawa.

A Canadian soldier standing guard at a war memorial in Ottawa was shot to death Wednesday, and gunfire then erupted inside Parliament, authorities said.

One gunman was killed, and police said they were searching for as many as two others in what Gilles Michaud, assistant commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, called a "dynamic, unfolding situation."

The Ottawa police, via its official Twitter account, warned the public to stay away from that area while it investigated.

The Maple Leafs were on lockdown earlier Wednesday at the team's hotel in downtown Ottawa, a team representative confirmed to ESPN.com. A team spokesman said the Maple Leafs were scheduled to leave Ottawa later in the afternoon as their game against the Senators was postponed.

Pittsburgh will play both national anthems before Wednesday night's Flyers-Penguins game, and Anaheim will have a moment of silence before its game against Buffalo.

Players throughout the league used social media to react to the day's events.

Surreal scene outside of our hotel right now. Lot of very brave police officers we should all be very proud of.

— Joffrey Lupul (@JLupul) October 22, 2014

Sickening news from this morning. Thoughts with those downtown and the law men and women working to keep our city safe. #Ottawa

— Bobby Ryan (@b_ryan9) October 22, 2014

Makes me sad what's going on in Ottawa right now. Thoughts and prays to everyone involved. Everybody stay safe

— Erik Karlsson (@ErikKarlsson65) October 22, 2014

Praying everybody in the downtown area including lots of my friends there are staying safe. Thoughts are with you guys.

— Marc Methot (@MarcMethot3) October 22, 2014

Heart felt thanks to all first responders for putting their safety on the line for ours. #OttawaStrong

— Chris Phillips (@CPhillipsFour) October 22, 2014

(Read full post)

Two teams in the Western Conference have a donut in the loss column.

That one of them is the Chicago Blackhawks, well, ho-hum indeed.

That the other is the Nashville Predators, well, who knew?

The clubs meet up Thursday night in Music City, the Hawks having prevailed 2-1 in overtime over the Preds on Saturday in Chicago.

"A chance for a little redemption," Predators captain Shea Weber told ESPN.com on Wednesday.

Fans and media all over the league are waiting for the Predators to come back down to earth after a 4-0-2 start. Games like Thursday night are a measuring stick to help answer the question: Are these guys for real?

"The Blackhawks are in town Thursday night and then the Penguins on Saturday, so yes, absolutely, we’ve got games against top teams," Predators general manager David Poile said Wednesday. "It’s been a real good start for us."

The Predators' story has to begin with Poile, the veteran hockey man who worked tirelessly in the offseason to continue reshaping his club. He tried to get in on the Jason Spezza sweepstakes at the draft in Philadelphia in late June but was told by the Ottawa Senators that the star center would not waive his no-trade clause to go to Nashville.

That same weekend, Poile acquired winger James Neal from the Pittsburgh Penguins, a bold move that brought the Preds the pure goal scorer they have lacked for years.

Then three centers, all reclamation projects of sorts, were hauled in via free agency: Olli Jokinen (one year, $2.5 million), Mike Ribeiro (one year, $1.05 million) and Derek Roy (one year, $1 million).

Even if just one of those centers rediscovered his past form, it would be well worth the modest investment as a whole. Another buy-low candidate, Anton Volchenkov (one year, $1 million), was added on defense.

"We’ve brought a lot of quantity. Hopefully in that quantity we’ve got some quality," said Poile of his offseason.

The efforts by the GM did not go unnoticed in the dressing room.

"The guys that we got have been great for us so far," said Weber. "It’s only going to keep getting better as they get to know the guys in the room better and build some chemistry as the season goes on. We’re happy to have them and fortunate we did some good work there to bring some guys in to improve our team."

Truth is they’re still not totally clicking on offense. The Predators were 18th last season at 2.61 goals per game and, as of Wednesday morning, were 18th at 2.50 this season.

But with all the new parts, it’s going to take some time.

"I do think it’s still a work in progress with our forwards," said Poile. "We’re still not where we want to be offensively."

Ribeiro is the ultimate gamble, a former point per game player with huge offensive skill who was bought out by the Coyotes last summer amid comments of his off-ice problems.

"Obviously he has some baggage coming from Arizona. He’s been very forthcoming as to his issues and what he’s had to do to take steps to resolve them," said Poile. "It’s a situation that has no guarantees. As a hockey player, we are and we will be very satisfied with him. Hopefully the other things will be something in his past. But only he can take care of that."

Another newcomer has already had an impact, coach Peter Laviolette. Longtime coach Barry Trotz parted ways amicably with the Preds and is off to his own solid start in Washington, but it was clear a new voice was needed in Nashville.

"It was a very competitive training camp. Guys didn’t know what to expect," Weber said of Laviolette. "I think it’s brought out the best in a lot of guys so far. We’re excited to keep going. It’s still early and we’ve got a way to go, but it’s a good start."

The most important factor of all, though, is having a healthy Pekka Rinne. The All-Star goalie missed a huge chunk of last season battling a serious hip issue, and the team could not overcome his absence.

"There’s no doubt in my mind it starts with our goaltender," said Poile. "Pekka has played fabulous. He wasn’t with us for 51 games last season, and I think it makes a world of difference for the level of confidence that we have going into every game."

This team is about Rinne and Weber, both among the best in the world at their positions.

The hope is the supporting cast around youngsters such as Seth Jones and Filip Forsberg will help fill out a playoff team.

But is their 4-0-2 start for real?

"Great goaltender, very good group of D," one NHL head coach from the Western Conference told ESPN.com via text Wednesday. "Forwards may have issues against heavy defending teams. Center is small and light. [Mike] Fisher will help, but interested to see how things go with 'hard' teams. Looks like they have some new life from the changes."

And that’s just it. There just seems to be new life with this team.

It’s been an interesting few years to say the least, from the devastating free-agent loss of Ryan Suter, the Weber offer sheet, Alexander Radulov's curfew controversy, Martin Erat's trade demand and finally Trotz’s emotional farewell.

This is a team that many believed was a Cup contender in 2011-12 before all of that happened.

Now they hope they are on the road back to respectability.

"It's been a tough couple years after the high expectation we had [in 2011-12]," said Weber. "There’s been a lot of changes. I look around the room and there’s not a lot of guys here that I’ve been here [with] for a long time. It’s taken a little bit of time to get the new guys here and adjusted. This year it’s been a quick turnaround, and I think we’ve done a great job of accepting everyone in and they’ve accepted their roles well so far. We’re just looking to build off that."

It’s only six games, to be sure, but in the NHL’s toughest division, the Central, digging an early hole could be deadly.

"Yeah, definitely, it’s something we talked about all through training camp, the importance of getting off to a good start," said Weber. "Especially with the strength of our division, how good those teams were last year and they got even better throughout the summer. So we knew we had to get off to a good start."