It was an exciting week in the NHL. We saw the first outdoor game of the year between two Alberta teams with no shortage of drama surrounding them, the last undefeated teams left standing all getting handed their first loss, and even some off-ice gambling scandals. It was a hockey journalist’s dream week.

In the Pacific Division, things are still very much up for grabs through the first three weeks of play. While some teams fell a bit deeper into the hole they have dug themselves, we also saw some teams rise out of nowhere to make this divisional race an interesting one early on.

Let’s take a look at how things are looking in the Pacific:

It’s hard to replicate what the Knights did in week one and two of the young season. Despite a bit of regression results-wise this week, they will most likely be the pace for the division the majority of the year.

The Golden Knights proved last year that they can beat you up and down the lineup with their depth. The way the Knights have started the year, they can get you with players that haven’t even played in the league yet. There have been 22 different skaters with points so far and 18 of those have scored at least one goal.

The Vancouver Canucks look legitimately good to start this season. This week was a showcase for a team who wants to position themselves as a playoff contender going forward. They did just that. Starting the week with a win over the Nashville Predators and following it up on Friday night in a 5-0 drubbing of the St. Louis Blues, the Canucks look to be a tier above the two teams that had similar betting odds to start the year. While Saturday night’s game against the Rangers wasn’t the result they were looking for, the Canucks looked to be competitive with a highly touted New York roster.

2023-24 is the first year of J.T. Miller’s controversial contract he signed during last year’s off-season. Locking in a 30-year-old Miller until 2030 definitely raised a few eyebrows but so far, Miller is looking every bit the part of his $8 million cap hit.

Miller currently leads the team in hits (23), trails only Elias Pettersson in points (12), and is averaging 21:21 of ice time, which leads the team’s group of forwards.

The Los Angeles Kings had a week that could stabilize them for the rest of the season. They took care of business against the Arizona Coyotes in a home and home set followed by a clash with the division leading Golden Knights, losing in a shootout.

The Kings have been flexing there depth on both sides of the puck so far this season. They lead the league in expected goals for at 57.7% and have allowed the second lowest high danger chances against.

When Kevin Fiala was signed to a 7-year, $55 million contract in 2022, it was supposed to be his jump from a talented supporting player to taking the keys of a team and emerging as a superstar. So far this season, Fiala has been excellent. The winger sits fourth in the league in assists (10) and is currently rolling with a 7-game point streak.

The sky was falling in Edmonton heading into the weekend with Connor McDavid out of the lineup and a pair of discouraging losses to the Minnesota Wild and New York Rangers. A 5-2 win over the Flames on Sunday evening saw McDavid return to the lineup and the team playing to the level we are used to. The Oilers are still creating a ton of high danger scoring chances and that is only going to trend upwards as long as McDavid can stay in the lineup.

While the goaltending is going to be a consistent worry and the bottom six isn’t creating anything, Sundays victory over their provincial rivals could be just what this roster needs to flip the switch.

When Connor McDavid went down against the Jets last Saturday, it looked like the Oilers were going to have to survive without him for at least a week. Seeing him on the outdoor rink for the Heritage Classic during practice had the entire hockey world do a double take. I don’t know what kind of magic they worked on their captain during his two game absence, but major sticks tap to the Oilers staff.

What a week it was for the Anaheim Ducks. A trip to the east coast for western teams most of the time just means hang on for dear life and hope to come out positive. The Ducks have threw that plan out the window and swept the east coast swing, including an impressive win against the then undefeated Boston Bruins in overtime.

After bouncing around three NHL franchises, forward Frank Vatrano is in the place he was meant to be. A 2022-23 season that saw him nab 41 points with 22 goals has translated into the hot start that Vatrano is off to this year. He already has two hat tricks and looks comfortable on a line with Mason McTavish.

In what should’ve been a fun celebration during Sundays Heritage Classic at Commonwealth Stadium, the spectacle only seemed to magnify the Calgary Flames issues. Whether it’s something going on behind the scenes or not, the product on the ice just hasn’t been good enough so far.

What adds to the headache is the two big tickets Brad Treliving signed before departing for Toronto. Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri are looking more and more like a salary cap blunder every game. Kadri just scored his first of the season on Sunday and Huberdeau looks like his 115 point days are far in the rear view mirror.

Finding line chemistry has been an big issue so far for first year head coach Ryan Huska. One unit that he doesn’t have to lose sleep at night over are the penalty killers. The Flames are killing at an impressive 90.9% and already have 2 shorthanded goals on the year.

It looks like the high-paced, full of depth, shooting machine Seattle Kraken team that we saw last year could potentially be a one hit wonder.

Pucks just have not been finding the net for the Kraken, who as a team are shooting a clip of a lowly 5.19%, the third lowest in the National Hockey League.

It doesn’t help that two of the big parts of last years run, goaltender Phillip Grubauer and reigning Calder Trophy winner Matty Beniers, really haven’t got much of anything going to this point. Grubauer just snuck over the .900 SV% mark after last nights win over the Tampa Bay Lightning while Beniers only has 3 points, all of them assists.

While Grubauer struggles to find his footing between the pipes, second goalie Joey Daccord has been holding down the fort. Through his five starts this season, Daccord holds a 2.88 GAA and a 912 SV%. The Kraken are 2-1-2 over those starts.

A weekly check-in for the San Jose Sharks starting to get redundant as there really isn’t anything trending in a positive direction to start the season for the projected first overall pick contender.

The Sharks are nestled at the bottom of the league in a lot of the major statistical categories including shooting percentage (3.41%), expected goals for percentage (40.46%), and expected goals against (23.48).

If you’re going to be bad, you might as well try and set a few records in the process. The Sharks are two losses away from tying the 1943-44 New York Rangers for the worst start to an NHL season (11 losses). Getting ahead of ourselves a little more, they could even challenge their own record for most losses in an NHL season: the 1992-93 Sharks lost 71 games.