Around the NHL: Vegas, Strong Starts, Matthews

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

The NHL season is just over a week old, but already, some teams can claim to strong starts to the season. The Flyers are one of those teams, with three wins in their first five games, including a dominant win in their home opener on Saturday.

But several teams can claim to four wins in their first five games, including a few surprise teams and the newest NHL franchise.

Catch up on all the news and notes in this week's look Around the NHL.

Vegas Stays Hot

The Vegas Golden Knights opened with wins in the first two games in franchise history, but kept things going in the past week with two more wins.

In the team's home opener last Tuesday night, the Golden Knights held a moving and emotional ceremony for the victims of the Vegas shooting on Oct. 1. They scored four goals in the first period of the game on their way to a 5-2 win.

If not for a strong start to the season by the Detroit Red Wings, Vegas may still be undefeated. The Golden Knights played the Red Wings on Friday night and carried a 3-2 lead into the third period before Detroit struck for four goals, handing Vegas its first loss in franchise history, 6-3.

The Golden Knights responded on Sunday with a 2-1 win over the Boston Bruins with some of their newest additions being the keys to victory. Vegas placed goalie Marc-Andre Fleury on injured reserve with concussion symptoms on Sunday, leaving Malcolm Subban as the go-to for Sunday night's game. Subban made 21 saves in the win, his first in the NHL.

There were more firsts on Sunday, as both goals were scored by newcomers to the lineup. Alex Tuch and Vadim Shipachyov scored their first NHL goals in the second period of the game.

James Neal also keeps scoring. In Vegas' five games, Neal has six goals.

Strong Starts for Several Teams

In addition to Detroit and Vegas being winners in four of their first five games, Tampa Bay, Toronto, New Jersey and Columbus all have wins in four of the first five games. Chicago, Colorado, St. Louis and Calgary all have four wins on the season in six games.

For a good number of these teams, early-season success is expected. But not many would have put New Jersey, Vegas, Detroit or Colorado in this group.

Obviously, Vegas is the newcomer to the league and instant success was not expected. They have certainly announced their presence in this first week.

Detroit, New Jersey and Colorado all finished at the bottom of the standings in 2016-17, so to turn things around this quickly says a lot about their starts.

Finally, add in a team like St. Louis, who despite being a consistent playoff contender, are dealing with a number of injuries that were expected to pose a problem at the start of the season. So far, things are going well for the Blues.

Matthews Nets 2 Game-Winners

One of the teams off to a strong start are the Toronto Maple Leafs. Twice this week, it was their young star Auston Matthews playing hero.

Matthews scored the game-winning goal in overtime last Monday night against Chicago. Five nights later, he picked up another overtime winner against Montreal.

Last year's Calder Trophy winner has five goals and three assists in his first five games this season.