Hockey Night in Canada: 5 Storylines

There should be plenty of offense on display during this week's "Hockey Night in Canada" doubleheader on Saturday.

Two of the most potent offensive teams in the NHL, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Washington Capitals, play at Capital One Arena (7 p.m. ET; CBC, NHLN, NBCSWA, NHL.TV). In the second game, the Calgary Flames play the Colorado Avalanche at Pepsi Center (10 p.m. ET: CBC, ALT, CITY, SN1, NHL.TV). All four teams have averaged at least 3.75 goals per game; the Maple Leafs lead the NHL in scoring with 25 goals in five games (5.00 per game).
Here are five storylines to keep an eye on:

Matthews filling net for Maple Leafs

Auston Matthews has been unstoppable through Toronto's first five games. The 21-year-old center leads the NHL in goals (nine), and is tied with teammate defenseman Morgan Rielly for the League lead in points (12). Matthews also is the youngest player in NHL history to have multiple points in each of his team's first five games of a season, a mark previously held by Wayne Gretzky, who was 22 when he did it in 1983-84. Matthews has scored his nine goals on 17 shots (52.9 shooting percentage), and he's the fifth player since 1930-31 to score nine goals in his team's first five games. The addition of John Tavares, who is second in the League with six goals, has made it difficult for opponents to focus all their defensive efforts on Matthews, and he's taking his game to a new level in his third NHL season.

Life of Rielly

Rielly is the first defenseman since the NHL's inaugural season in 1917-18 to have at least 12 points in his team's first five games (Harry Cameron of the Toronto Arenas had 15 points 101 years ago). Rielly's 12 points (three goals, nine assists) are one more than Hockey Hall of Famer Bobby Orr (11 points; two goals, nine assists) had for the Boston Bruins in 1973-74, and he's the first Toronto defenseman to have points in each of his team's first five games.

Ovechkin climbing scoring list

The Capitals have been up and down this season, but Alex Ovechkin keeps on scoring. He has four goals in Washington's first four games and has 611 in his NHL career, moving him past Hall of Famers Dino Ciccarelli (608) and Bobby Hull (610) into 17th place on the League's all-time list. Next on the list: Joe Sakic and Jarome Iginla, each with 625. The seven-time Richard Trophy winner will have to play catch-up to overtake Matthews to win his eighth goal-scoring title, but keep in mind that Ovechkin had nine goals in Washington's first five games last season, so scoring a lot of goals in a little bit of time is nothing unusual for him.

Avalanche are no fluke

The Colorado Avalanche are showing their jump from 48 points in 2016-17 to 95 last season was no accident. Colorado has won three of its first four games (3-1-0) and is first in the Central Division. Center Nathan MacKinnon, a Hart Trophy finalist in 2017-18, has six points (five goals, one assist) in four games, including two goals in a 6-1 win at the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday, and he has at least one point in each game. Linemate Mikko Rantanen has seven points (one goal, six assists), and goaltender Semyon Varlamov is 3-0-0 with a 1.33 goals-against average and .955 save percentage in three games.

Flames can score, but so do opponents

Calgary has split its first four games, but new coach Bill Peters can't complain about a lack of scoring from his top players. Forwards Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk each has seven points (one goal, six assists), center Sean Monahan has five points (four goals, one assist), and forward Elias Lindholm also has five points (three goals, two assists). However, the Flames have struggled to keep the puck out of their net. Despite a 3-0 win at the Nashville Predators on Tuesday, goaltender Mike Smith is 2-2-0 with a 3.56 goals-against average and an .881 save percentage. The Flames need more from Smith because there's no in-house goaltending alternative if the 36-year-old doesn't improve.