This article is part of our The Daily Puck series.
We're underway.
Four games in the book. Many, many more to go.
We got just four games on Wednesday night -- four very good rivalries -- but a lot happened.
Max Pacioretty, taking his captain's C out for an inaugural spin, scored the first goal of the NHL season for the second season in a row. Mike Babcock won the first coach's challenge in NHL history. The Blackhawks raised yet another Stanley Cup banner. The Flames are still posting a terrible shot differential (and if you watched that one, it was worse than the stats show).
We're short on real hockey story lines, but they're about to come quickly with 14 teams on the slate for tonight. Get ready. 1,226 games till the playoffs.
Projected Goalie Starters (all times Eastern)
For updates on the projected goalies later in the day, check our Projected Goalies Grid
Winnipeg Jets (Ondrej Pavelec) at Boston Bruins (Tuukka Rask), 7:00 PM
Ottawa Senators (Craig Anderson) at Buffalo Sabres (Robin Lehner), 7:00 PM
Philadelphia Flyers (Steve Mason) at Tampa Bay Lightning (Ben Bishop), 7:30 PM
Edmonton Oilers (Cam Talbot) at St. Louis Blues (Brian Elliott), 8:00 PM
Carolina Hurricanes (Cam Ward) at Nashville Predators (Pekka Rinne), 8:00 PM
Pittsburgh Penguins (Marc-Andre Fleury) at Dallas Stars (Kari Lehtonen), 8:30 PM
Minnesota Wild (Devan Dubnyk) at Colorado Avalanche (Semyon Varlamov), 9:00 PM
Injury News For Teams Playing Thursday
Winnipeg Jets
Adam Lowry, LW - (undisclosed) is dealing with a minor injury.
Boston Bruins
Seth Griffith, RW - (MCL) will miss another couple weeks.
Zdeno Chara, D - (upper body) remains questionable to play in Thursday's season opener.
Dennis Seidenberg, D - (back) is expected to miss at least a month of play.
Ottawa Senators
Clarke MacArthur, LW - (undisclosed) is doubtful for Thursday's regular-season opener against the Sabres.
Chris Phillips, D - (back) said last week that he's "turned a corner" in the recovery process.
Andrew Hammond, G - (groin) is out for two weeks.
Buffalo Sabres
Brian Gionta, RW - (lower body) is day-to-day.
Josh Gorges, D - coach Dan Bylsma said "it's possible" Gorges plays in Thursday's season opener.
Zach Bogosian, D - (lower body) was placed on IR Tuesday.
Cody McCormick, C - (illness) was placed on IR Tuesday.
Philadelphia Flyers
Sean Couturier, C - (undisclosed) will be ready to play in the Flyers' season opener.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Andrei Vasilevskiy, G - (vascular surgery for blood clot) will miss significant time.
Edmonton Oilers
Matt Hendricks, LW - (undisclosed) did not take part in practice Saturday.
Jordan Eberle, RW - (shoulder) will start the season on injured reserve.
St. Louis Blues
Patrik Berglund, C - (shoulder) has been placed on long-term injured reserve.
Carolina Hurricanes
Healthy to start the year.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Pascal Dupuis, RW - (lower body) will be out for at least one month.
Eric Fehr, RW - (elbow) will start the season on IR.
Dallas Stars
Brett Ritchie, RW - (wrist) is still recovering from surgery in September.
Ales Hemsky, RW - (hip) has been practicing, but is still considered day-to-day.
Minnesota Wild
Justin Fontaine, RW - (oblique) has been placed on injured reserve.
Colorado Avalanche
Jesse Winchester, LW - (concussion) has been placed on injured reserve.
HOT
Joe Pavelski, C/RW, SJS — Just one game into his new captaincy with the Sharks and he's leading by example. In Wednesday's 5-1 win over the Kings, Pavelski had a goal and two assists, leading the team in points. He also lead the team in shots, grabbing seven in his first game out.
Daniel Sedin, LW, VAN —Both of the Sedins enter the season with questions about their production at the forefront of fantasy discussions. Now 35, we should expect their production to trail off, but we also know that they're incredible talents still. On opening night, they made their case, with both Sedins putting points on the board. Daniel put in a goal and two assists, plus a team-leading seven shots.
COLD
With just a single night of hockey in the books, I'm not prepared to say anyone is cold. Though Karri Ramo and Jonathan Quick didn't have great nights Wednesday evening. Both netminders allowed five goals.
RECOMMENDED PICKUP
Artemi Panarin, LW, CHI — The 23-year-old Russian makes the jump to the NHL this season. He's a recommended pickup because he's still out there in some leagues. Many owners don't know what to make of him. He had a lot of success in the KHL, but there's no guarantee that the success translates to the North American game. However, he's being given a great chance to succeed, placed on a line with Patrick Kane who he connected with for a goal on Wednesday night on the first shot of his NHL career.
