The first month of the NHL season is over. Now it’s time to get down to business.

Even though all 32 teams will take off on November 28 for Thanksgiving in the United States, the schedule calls for 220 games, an average of almost 14 per team – or about one every two days. The New York Rangers, New York Islanders and Winnipeg Jets are among those who will spend most of the month on the road. the Rangers and Islanders each make their annual trip to Seattle and Western Canada before Thanksgiving. The Buffalo Sabers are traveling through California, as are the Columbus Blue Jackets, who begin their annual visit to Seattle.

Two of the league’s best teams on paper, the Edmonton Oilers and Colorado Avalanche, will try to claw their way back after slow starts – but will have to do so despite injuries to key players. Others, like the Washington Capitals, will try to build on surprisingly good starts.

Related: Connor McDavid out 2-3 weeks with ankle injury for Oilers

5 NHL storylines to watch in November

Here are five of the biggest NHL stories in November:

The Edmonton Oilers are trying to survive without Connor McDavid

The good news for the Oilers is that Connor McDavid shouldn’t be out for too long. The bad news is that the league’s most dangerous offensive force is expected to miss at least 2-3 weeks after suffering a 6-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday due to an ankle injury suffered during his first shift.

Last season’s Stanley Cup finalists enter November with a 5-5-1 record through 11 games after struggling to score in the first month of the season. McDavid has 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in his 10 games – good numbers for many players but pedestrian for the five-time NHL scoring champion.

“You never know what the outcome will be or for how long,” coach Kris Knoblauch said after practice Thursday. “Obviously you don’t want to miss it at any point, but you think about what could have been, we’re lucky it was as short as it was.”

The Oilers finished October with a 5-1 road win over the Nashville Predators on Thursday; starting with a visit to the Calgary Flames on Sunday, they will play seven games in 14 days.

The good news for Edmonton is that they are tied (in points) for third in the Pacific Division – meaning that as long as McDavid isn’t out too long, their playoff hopes shouldn’t be seriously damaged. Of course, his teammates must step up.

“When you’re missing someone who plays about 22 minutes a night, there’s a lot more rhythm for the third and fourth line guys,” Knoblauch said. “(They) are able to feel good about themselves and feel part of the game.”

Alex Ovechkin’s pursuit of Wayne Gretzky continues

There are two numbers that stand out above all others for Alex Ovechkin: 894 and 39.

894 is the target; that’s the NHL scoring record held for 25 years by Wayne Gretzky, who retired in 1999. The other number is his age.

Ovechkin is no longer the feared offensive force he was in his youth with Washington. His skating diminished and his defensive play, never robust to begin with, also declined. But the shot that made him the second-highest goal scorer in NHL history is alive and well, as he demonstrated by scoring twice in Washington’s 5-3 win over the New York Rangers at Capital One. Arena on Tuesday and another in a 6-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens, giving it five in Washington’s first nine games.

This week’s three goals brought his career total to 858, leaving him 37 shy of Gretzky. He’ll have plenty of opportunities to get close to The Great One in November; the Capitals play 15 games in 30 days.

Can the Winnipeg Jets keep it flying?

The Winnipeg Jets were the The best team in the league in October, finishing the month 9-1-0 – including 5-0-0 on the road. Their 18 points are the most in the NHL, as is their goal differential of plus-22. Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck is off to a fast start as he attempts to win the Vezina Trophy in back-to-back seasons; he is 7-1-0 with a 2.32 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage.

The Jets’ challenge in November is their schedule. After playing Columbus on Friday, they’ll play four home games in seven days — but three will be against a trio of the league’s toughest teams: the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday, the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday and the Dallas Stars on November 9.

And then things get Really difficult.

The Jets will play eight of their final nine games this month on the road. They visit the Rangers, who were 6-2-1 in October, on Nov. 12, followed by a two-game series in Florida with games at Tampa Bay on Nov. 14 and against the defending champion Panthers of the Stanley Cup, two evenings later.

After a one-game pit stop for a home game against Florida, the Jets finish the month with five straight road games, starting with a back-to-back at Pittsburgh on November 22 and at Nashville on the 23rd. , heading to Minnesota on the 25th, Los Angeles the day before Thanksgiving and Vegas on Black Friday.

It’s safe to say we’ll have a much better idea of ​​whether the Jets are the real deal a month from now.

The Colorado Avalanche try to stop the bleeding

There’s no doubt the Colorado Avalanche (5-6-0) can put the puck in the net; they average 3.45 goals per game despite missing several of their best strikers. Center Nathan MacKinnon and defenseman Cale Makar are the first teammates in franchise history to open the season with concurrent 11-game point streaks.

It’s the inability to keep the puck out of their own net and a continued barrage of injuries that does them in.

Despite outscoring their opponents by an average of more than five shots per game, the Avalanche are allowing 4.18 goals per game, tied with the Montreal Canadiens for worst in the NHL. They have allowed at least five goals in six of their 11 games – and lost all six, including 5-2 to the visiting Lightning on Wednesday, which saw them play catch-up all night after giving up three goals in the premieres 5:32. Colorado also lost two other forwards this week – Russ Colton (broken foot) and Miles Wood (upper body) – and is already playing without Jonathan Drouin (upper body), Artturi Lehkonen (shoulder) and captain Gabriel Landeskog (knee). ; he’s been playing since June 2022).

Alexandar Georgiev, who led NHL goaltenders with 38 wins last season, is 1-4-0 with a 4.62 goals-against average and .822 save percentage; he has allowed at least three goals in each of his five starts. Replacement Justin Annunen could supplant him as a starter; he is 4-1-0 with a 2.48 GAA and a .905 save percentage. Kaapo Kahkonen allowed four goals on 20 shots against the Lightning in his first start for Colorado.

For November, the Avalanche need to find someone who can play as a number one goaltender while injured players heal.

“I like the way we’re playing overall,” MacKinnon said after the loss to the Lightning. “When the guys come back, I feel like if we continue like this we’ll have better results, but that’s not the topic right now.”

The Islanders need to find a way to end this – otherwise they might be done

The New York Islanders enter November with a 3-5-2 record, despite being one of the best teams at generating 5-on-5 chances. It’s the inability to finish that is their problem.

New York has allowed a total of five net goals in four of the losses (three in regulation, one in overtime). The Islanders lost because they were shut out in all four games, losing 1-0 twice (once in overtime), 2-0 (an empty net) at Columbus on Wednesday and 3-0 (an empty net) at Dallas in October. 12.

“It’s not our goaltenders’ fault, it’s not their fault,” center Bo Horvat said after the loss in Columbus. “It’s up to us to do it. We have to score at the end of the day.

To make matters even more difficult, the Islanders will spend most of the next three weeks away from home. The game in Columbus began a stretch that will see them play nine of 11 games on the road. This includes a five-game stretch as they visit Seattle and the three Western Canadian teams before finishing with a stop in Detroit for a rematch of the Red Wings’ 1-0 win at UBS Arena on the 22nd. october.

“It’s a team thing right now, and we’re going to get through this together,” coach Patrick Roy said of his team’s difficulty scoring. “We played well enough to win and we didn’t get it done. At the same time, we must be resilient and find ways to win.

The Islanders are 15th in the Eastern Conference in points percentage. Unless they start finding the back of the net soon, they may find themselves on the outside looking in to what will likely be a tight race for the final playoff spots in the East.