The Two Hottest Teams in the NHL's Western Conference

The Buffalo Sabres are off to a 5-0-0 start, as Thomas Morris Jr. detailed in The Hottest Team in the NHL - the Buffalo Sabres on October 17. Their spot atop the Eastern Conference in the early going is hardly a surprise though, since numerous pundits and publications (the Sporting News, for example) named the Sabres as one of a handful of teams with an excellent chance to hoist the Stanley Cup at season's end. Out West is a different story, as two squads without much preseason hype have matched Buffalo's success.

Not too many people considered Minnesota a force in the Northwest Division after missing the playoffs the past two seasons, but the Wild's sweep of five home games - including a victory over the preseason Central Division favorite Nashville Predators and a 5-0 whitewashing of the Columbus Blue Jackets - is forcing fans to take notice of the best start in franchise history. Last year's leading scorer Brian Rolston is off to a terrific start with a team-leading four goals and seven points, and offseason acquisition Pavol Demitra is looking like the playmaking force he was during his best seasons with the St. Louis Blues. Marion Gaborik is healthy after missing 17 games in 2005-06, and should be a safe bet for 40-plus goals if he avoids the injury bug.

The blue line also got a helpful makeover in the offseason, with steady Kim Johnsson and veteran Keith Carney arriving from Philadelphia and Vancouver respectively. In net, Manny Fernandez has become the unquestioned number one stopper after several seasons of platooning with Dwayne Roloson. He's responded to the challenge by going 4-0-0 with a 1.77 goals against average and a .935 save percentage, numbers far better than his career averages. Fernandez was in net for the aforementioned blanking of the Blue Jackets, giving him as many shutouts in October as he had in 56 starts last season.

While the Wild has obviously taken advantage of their favorable schedule out of the gate, they seem to have the ingredients to stay in the hunt in a shaky Northwest even after they have to actually start playing road games. Vancouver is trying to rebound after a disappointing season that saw them miss the playoffs, Edmonton and Colorado both had significant losses in the free agent market and Calgary currently sports the NHL's most anemic offense. Minnesota's management showed their confidence in coach Jacques Lemaire - who has been at the helm since the team's debut in 2000 - by signing him to a multiyear contract extension on October 11.

In the Pacific Division, doubt surrounded the Dallas Stars' ability to stay on top, with many observers favoring Joe Thornton and the San Jose Sharks or the up-and-coming Anaheim Ducks. But the Stars have already drawn first blood against the Ducks, using their usual shootout wizardry to prevail 4-3 in Anaheim on October 15. A stretch that features San Jose, Chicago and Detroit before the end of the month should tell us more about whether or not the Stars are as good as they've seemed so far.

One Star who is always good (at least in the regular season) is goaltender Marty Turco. He's up to his old tricks, going 5-0 thus far with a 1.57 goals against average and an eye-popping .948 save percentage. Winger Brenden Morrow has adjusted nicely to the captain's 'C' by pacing the team with four goals and seven points. The Stars have even received a valuable contribution from Eric Lindros, he of the many concussions, with the hulking center averaging a point a game and racking up 14 penalty minutes. Ageless Sergei Zubov anchors the blue line, and the team's Finnish contingent (Jere Lehtinen, Jussi Jokinen and Antti Miettinen) gives them depth up front superior to all of their division rivals.

Fast regular season starts can always feed away as the season progresses, but two points in October count the same as two points in March. The Sabres should prove to among the Eastern Conference's elite teams the whole way, and a few more wins by the Wild and the Stars could soon have fans thinking about those squads the same way in the West.