Looking North: Habs, Leafs still the teams to beat

Welcome to the second edition of "Looking North," our weekly Friday dive into the all-Canadian division. This installment dates back to Jan. 22.

The rundown

There seems to be a clear divide in competition among the Canadian teams through just over two weeks of the season. The Winnipeg Jets are scoring goals at ease but remain shaky defensively, and the Vancouver Canucks look solid once again after a rough start. Meanwhile, the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs are still the teams to beat in the division.

The stars

The Jets have turned up the heat, and it's hard to single out a forward when the team is firing on all cylinders. Five players posted five or more points in the past week; Andrew Copp and Nikolaj Ehlers each had seven and Paul Stastny had six, while Adam Lowry and Mark Scheifele each had five. Winnipeg clearly owns one of the most potent offenses in the league, and Pierre-Luc Dubois still hasn't debuted yet.

As for defensemen, Darnell Nurse is starting to look like the stud the Edmonton Oilers were hoping to see for the past few years. The blue-liner racked up five assists in four games, all while averaging a hefty 24:40 of ice time. Nurse also managed a Corsi For of 59.12% at even strength alongside a solid 63.68 xGF%.

In the crease, Thatcher Demko was phenomenal in the two games he appeared in recently. After three straight poor outings to start the season, the young netminder swatted aside 77 of the 79 shots he faced and helped the Canucks get two much-needed wins. Demko's .975 save percentage over the past two contests has been a big reason for Vancouver's sudden resurgence.

Canadian of the week

Connor McDavid is off to a stellar start, but the Oilers haven't taken advantage as they dropped three of their last four games. Despite that, the team's star shone bright and dominated his opponents in nearly every facet of the game.

The 24-year-old racked up two goals and six assists over his past four matchups, including this highlight-reel tally. Over the same span, he had a 72.78 xGF% at five-on-five and led all forwards with 24 high-danger scoring chances. McDavid continues to amaze night in and night out, but Edmonton just can't seem to get it going around him.

The moments

Oilers star Leon Draisaitl stepped up big time in a contest with the Jets earlier in the week. With things tied up and the game looking destined for overtime, he had other plans and stunned Winnipeg by delivering a dagger with just 0.7 seconds left on the clock.

There was already some bad blood brewing between Matthew Tkachuk and the Leafs after the Calgary Flames forward fell on goaltender Jack Campbell in the teams' first matchup and was accused by some of doing it intentionally. In the second game between the two sides, Toronto came out with a win - but not without stirring up some last-minute drama. As the buzzer sounded, Leafs rearguard Jake Muzzin harmlessly flicked the puck at Tkachuk. The temper tantrum that ensued was something to be seen.

With the clock winding down amid a blowout against the Ottawa Senators, Canucks forward Brandon Sutter had his mind on one thing: getting his first career hat trick. With under a minute to go in the contest, Sutter found himself streaking with one last chance to accomplish the feat and didn't waste the opportunity.

The question

After a promising win against the Maple Leafs in game No. 1 of the season, Ottawa has been downright awful since. The team lost four straight over the past week and were outscored 22-6. Head coach D.J. Smith expressed his frustration with the lineup after a 7-1 blowout loss to Vancouver on Monday. But even after making some changes, the team was met with a similar result in a 5-1 drubbing just two nights later.

Many predicted the Senators to finish near the bottom of the standings, so this isn't all that surprising. Still, the expectation was they'd be more competitive than in recent years. Will Ottawa be able to piece together any sort of meaningful play this season and spur some crucial growth from its young stars?

Stat of the week

The Canadiens just can't stop scoring shorthanded goals. They picked up their fifth shorthanded marker Thursday against the Flames to tie the NHL record for the most in a team's first seven games of a season, according to Sportsnet Stats.

Games to watch

The slumping Senators will be tasked with slowing down McDavid and Draisaitl for the first time this season on Sunday night. Winnipeg kicks off a three-game series against Calgary on Monday, the first time the teams will meet since Jan. 14. Meanwhile, the Canucks will try to take down the Canadiens on Tuesday after dropping their last two contests against them by a combined 12-5 score.