Trending Up, Trending Down: Chad Johnson shines, Penguins flounder
Each week, theScore looks at the teams, players, and other hockey figures trending upward and taking a step back.
▲ Chad Johnson
The Calgary Flames' goaltending situation looked to be a major weakness early on, but it's been stabilized by an unlikely force.
Chad Johnson shut out the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night, improving to 8-4-1 with a 2.06 GAA and a .930 save percentage in 13 games.
It was his third shutout and sixth win in his last eight contests.
Meanwhile, Brian Elliott is 3-9-1 with a 3.31 GAA and .885 save percentage in his first 13 games with the Flames after being acquired from the St. Louis Blues over the summer.
Johnson was once known solely for a catchphrase started by Boston Bruins blog Days of Yorr ("Hi, I'm Chad Johnson") - a meme he later acknowledged - but if he keeps playing like this, he won't have to make any more introductions.
▼ The Penguins
Pittsburgh certainly didn't look like a defending Stanley Cup champion Wednesday night in a 5-3 loss to the basement-dwelling New York Islanders.
Matt Murray let in four goals on 25 shots, and his club allowed the third-worst team in the league to tie an NHL record by scoring twice in a three-second span.
The Penguins fell to a pedestrian 4-5-1 in their last 10 games and 5-5-2 away from PPG Paints Arena, where they remain 8-2-1.
It's not time to panic just yet, but it is cause for concern.
▲ Brian Burke
The Flames dominated online discourse before Wednesday's game thanks to a dynamite radio segment featuring their always forthright president of hockey operations.
Burke echoed general manager Brad Treliving's denial when asked about rumors the club is shopping defenseman Dougie Hamilton.
Related: Burke blames 'army of leakers' for Dougie Hamilton trade rumors
The outspoken executive told TSN 1050 that the only way Hamilton would be available is if a team were to offer 20 first-round picks, adding that the rumors are being peddled by "an army of people who have no goddamn idea what they're talking about."
Please never leave us, Brian.
▼ The Avalanche
Colorado was expecting to be reinvigorated under new head coach Jared Bednar, but the Avalanche have looked flat so far.
They've lost three in a row, they sit in the basement of the Central Division, and only the Arizona Coyotes have a record as bad as the Avalanche through 21 games.
Colorado is second-last in the NHL in terms of goals scored per game (2.24), and that's coupled with the eighth-worst goals-against average (2.95).
Rene Bourque leads the team in goal-scoring, and while he's played well, the Avalanche need more out of Nathan MacKinnon, Matt Duchene, and Gabriel Landeskog.
Related: Avalanche's core on watch after last-place start
Colorado will try to turn things around when they host Bourque's old team, the Columbus Blue Jackets, on Thursday night.