A Little Spooky

It's my annual look at the league as Halloween comes around. Can't skip on tradition, so here is a quick look around the league to take a look at some of the scary things that are afoot in the NHL.

Penguins' Horrifying Home Record: 2-4-0 in their brand new building, including two losses to heated rival Philadelphia. One thing they have going for them, the Winter Classic will not be played at CONSOL Energy Center. The only teams they have beaten at home have been Ottawa and an overtime win against the NY Islanders. Still it is not as bad as Phoenix that has only won once in Glendale Arena.

Devils' Decapitated Cap: After signing a whopper of a contract with Ilya Kovalchuk, the Devils have run into salary cap troubles. They started the season with only twenty players on their roster, leaving little room for injuries or bad play. They have dressed as little as 17 players for a game. Lucky for them, some injuries have helped to alleviate the pressure. But unless a trade is looming, they will have to make tougher choices further down the road like letting a veteran player go.

Tim "Trick or Treat" Thomas: What a great and scary start for the Boston goaltender. He has won every start this season for the Bruins (5), but what is really blood curdling is his goals against average at this point in the season, .50. Yup, that is half a goal allowed per game. Credit a great Bruins defense and Thomas' recent spooky-good play.

Steven "Slimy and Scary" Stamkos: 18 points through nine games. He is averaging 2 points a game. Not a bad start kid.

Alex "The Invisible Man" Ovechkin: Usually a man in the lead of the scoring race or close to the top, it is hard to find Ovechkin's name in the top twenty of either the goals column or points. It is still early, but his scoring production has dropped sharply, including three games where he failed to score a single point. He started the season with five straight games with at least a point. Not good news for you fantasy players out there.

Carolina's House of Horrors: Zero goals on home ice. That is it for the Hurricanes. Shut out in their last 2 games by both Washington and Pittsburgh, the 'Canes are looking for answers on to their home ice woes. They did score a goal while in Europe when they were considered a home team. But since returning to RBC Center, the 'Canes offense has sputtered.

Eve of Halloween Routs: These games weren't even fair in some cases. Philly routs NY Islanders 6-1, Pittsburgh embarrasses the Hurricanes 3-0, Boston veto the Senators 4-0, Detroit dismantle the Predators 5-2, Dallas shoots down the Sabres 4-0, Colorado unravels the Blue Jackets 5-1,  and Capitals douse Flames 7-2. In all the winning teams scored a combined 56 goals while the losing end only mustered 14 goals.