The incredible Carey Price; Rangers rookies; turbulence in Calgary, Colorado

Carey Price is flying again for the Montreal Canadiens. 

The 29-year-old star goaltender, who missed most of last season with a knee injury, is currently 10-0-0 with a .957 save percentage this season. Price has given up two goals or less in every start but one and has an almost unbelievable .973 save percentage at even-strength.

The B.C. native and 2015 Vezina Trophy winner is 20-2-0 in his last 22 NHL starts. He’s been without compare among even the best goaltenders since the start of the 2014-15 season. No one really even comes close.

Overall save percentage:

Price: .936; Henrik Lundqvist: .920; Ben Bishop: .920; Cory Schneider: .925; Corey Crawford: .925; Jonathan Quick: .918

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Even-strength save percentage:

Price: .945; Lundqvist: .933; Bishop: .924; Schneider: .933; Crawford: .935; Quick: .927

NOT JUST VESEY

Jimmy Vesey isn’t the only Rangers rookie making a dent in the opening weeks this season. Meet Pavel Buchnevich, the 21-year-old Russian who has rung up four goals and eight points in his first 10 NHL games. A third round pick of the club in 2013, the six foot three, 193-pound winger scored in four straight games last week, adding another layer of punch to the league’s highest-scoring offence.

Buchnevich comes to New York by way of the KHL where he put up numbers similar to Artemi Panarin, the reigning Calder Trophy winner. Buchnevich posted 0.24 goals and 0.62 points on a per-game basis for Cherepovets Severstal; Panarin registered 0.29 goals and 0.69 points, albeit over a much longer period.

It’s worth noting that Panarin arrived in the NHL when he was nearly 24; Buchnevich won’t turn 22 until April.

Vesey, meanwhile, has met the hype thus far with seven goals and 11 points in a Rangers uniform.

NEW COACH, DIFFERENT ISSUES

There are subtle hints of positive change in Colorado under new head coach Jared Bednar.

The Avalanche aren’t getting snowed under quite like last year and are no longer asking so much of their goalies, Semyon Varlamov and Calvin Pickard. Colorado is yielding 29.8 shots per-game, a steady decrease from the 32.3 average under Patrick Roy last year.

What’s ailed the last-place team in the Central division though? Goals and goaltending.

The Avs have scored the fewest five-on-five goals in hockey thus far (16), their best players all misfiring: Nathan MacKinnon has two goals; Gabriel Landeskog has three; Tyson Barrie has scored once; Jarome Iginla has only a pair of goals and no assists in 14 games. 

Despite facing far fewer shots and shot attempts, Varlamov is struggling with an .896 save percentage. The Russian starred with 44 stops on 45 shots against the Bruins on Sunday, but the Avalanche failed to score in a 2-0 loss.

BLACKHAWKS PENALTY KILL

The Chicago Blackhawks, the best team in the Western Conference, appears to be getting things together on the penalty kill, where they drowned early this year.

First eight games: 15 goals on 30 chances (50 per cent)

Last eight games: two goals on 21 chances (90 per cent)

FLICKERING FLAMES

Much has gone wrong in Calgary early this season, from special teams to scoring to goaltending to the production of Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan. 

A look at the Flames’ league-wide ranking in some key areas through mid-November:

Goals against per-game: 30th (tied)

Goals for per-game: 25th

Power play: 29th

Penalty kill: 29th

Puck possession: 20th

Goal differential: 30th

Gaudreau, who had 30 goals and 78 points last year, has only four goals and 10 points in 16 games. Monahan, a 27-goal-scorer with 63 points a year ago, has four goals himself and a mere six points thus far. The new goalie tandem of Brian Elliott and Chad Johnson, meanwhile, has an .886 collective save percentage.

BACK IN TOP FORM

Sergei Bobrovsky’s stumbles out of the gate last season helped cost Todd Richards his job as Blue Jackets head coach. The 2013 Vezina Trophy winner looks to be back in top form this season, boasting an impressive .931 save percentage in 12 starts for the Blue Jackets.

Tuukka Rask and Pekka Rinne are other notable bounceback candidates. Rask is now 10-1-0 with three shutouts and a .945 save percentage for the Bruins, while Rinne is 5-4-3 with a .930 mark for the Predators.

Jonas Siegel, The Canadian Press