Jack Hughes is rising, the Flames are crumbling, Cale Makar rules

Welcome back to another edition of NHL’s Best and Worst. Here’s everything you’ll want to see and hear from the past seven days in puck after another awesome week of action around the league.

Let’s get right into it:

Goal of the week

The Vegas Golden Knights are cruising, and a big reason for that success is the continuity and team-wide buy-in up and down the lineup. There aren’t many squads that boast the depth Vegas has and it’s helped elevate the defending Stanley Cup champions to a roaring hot 8-0-1 start to their season.

Among those electric options down the lineup: Paul Cotter, who tallied a gorgeous potential goal-of-the-year candidate against the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday.

Save of the week

It’s been a rough start to the season in Edmonton, but after a big win at the Heritage Classic on Sunday, perhaps things could be turning around in the City of Champions. A big part of any turnaround in Oil Country would be some much-improved goaltending, and while Jack Campbell hasn’t lived up to expectations overall, more saves like this one could serve as a welcome renaissance.

Player of the week

Jack Hughes has arrived in a big way this season, racing to the early NHL scoring lead and arguably taking over as the Hart Trophy favorite during the brief absence of Connor McDavid.

With his all-world vision and newfound ability to finish at an elite clip, Hughes looks to be in the midst of another enormous leap this season.

Hands of the week

For a guy who’s not quite in the upper echelon of NHL stars, Sonny Milano sure knows how to dazzle every now and again. Best known for being the second half of Trevor Zegras’ unbelievable Michigan pass, Milano pulled some of his own aerial finesse this past week against the Minnesota Wild with this doozy that was almost an all-time goal candidate.

Dish of the week

We’re cheating a little bit with this one, but speaking of the Zegras Michigan, we’ve got a new spin on that electric feed. Check out this remarkable pass in this ASU game that fans are dubbing “The Dishigan.”

Worst of the week

This week’s victim of bizarrely wandering from the crease in an inexplicable daze is Pittsburgh Penguins backup Alex Nedeljkovic, who poorly times what can only be described as a half-baked flying poke-check, leaving the Pens cage yawning for Stars blueliner Thomas Harley. Safe to say it’s probably not how the Syracuse, New York native drew up his second career NHL goal.

We waxed poetic last week about Makar’s absurd talent, including shattering Bobby Orr’s record for fastest blueliner to 250 points, so we’re quickly running out of superlatives for the NHL’s premier defender. This time around, the perennial Norris Trophy candidate left the Islanders haplessly waving their sticks as he danced around their entire squad for this beauty.

Betting buckets

Shane Pinto’s landmark 41-game suspension left some NHL fans more than a little perplexed, as Gary Bettman threw the book at the Senators RFA for some apparent shady dealings with the books.

Given the integrity of the game is at stake, it’s fair for the NHL to be so vigilant, but they’d probably also like you to forget that Pinto and his Senators have been busy advertising the same books on their helmets that got their sniper in hot water. Hypocrisy at its finest?

Cartoon superstar

Brad Marchand has never been shy about getting into some antics, but check out this clip as the NHL’s preeminent rat plays the peacekeeper in an episode of Disney Channel’s Big City Greens. He’s no Mel Blanks, but Marchand certainly holds his own here and has definitely emerged as one of the faces of the NHL.

Ice Spice

There have been plenty of great costumes in the lead-up to Halloween this year across the NHL, but free agent Jesse Puljujarvi, formerly of the Edmonton Oilers and Carolina Hurricanes, easily takes the cake.

Decked out head to toe as rapper Ice Spice, this one is a definite winner.

Getting away with one

There aren’t many more obvious penalties than throwing the stick, yet somehow the Seattle Kraken got away with one big time in the dying moments of the second period against the Detroit Red Wings last week. Call it a modern-day Kerry Fraser with how egregious this one is.

Career ender

Jakub Lauko was on the wrong end of a scary incident last week after having his face cut by Blackhawks forward Jason Dickinson, but instead of anything resembling a career-ending NHL injury, Lauko noted it may be the end of other Blue Steel-adjacent aspirations.

Come on Barbie

Speaking of the Bruins and modeling, check out the B’s celebrating Halloween as a team last week dressed straight out of the Barbie Movie. Just like Ken’s job is Beach, it seems like the Bruins’ job is Puck.

Mic’d up

Some hilarious (albeit NSFW) language here from NHL ref Chris Rooney, as he politely informs Devils defenseman Kevin Bahl not to cause any more commotion given his team was headed to the man advantage, though perhaps not in so many words.

Butt bounce

A pregame staple across the NHL, keep-up — aka sewer ball — is a must around the league as teams get loose ahead of their games.

Unfortunately, the seedy world of arena tunnels hasn’t seen much innovation in recent years, so this hilarious content from the Winnipeg Jets could be the start of a trend. Or maybe the Jets are just taking full advantage of their hockey butts.

Hughes chat

Listen, it can get lonely out there for netminders, so you can’t fault Wild goalie Marc-Andre Fleury for trying to make a friend out there, even if it’s with the other team.

Now, is his choice to schmooze up Hughes a little bit peculiar given the teams are in the middle of play? Well, yes. But then again, we are talking about one of the NHL’s goofiest characters, so these types of unorthodox shenanigans probably shouldn’t come as a major surprise.

The rest of the NHL’s undefeated teams all fell this week, so unfortunately we won’t be seeing any 82-0-0 seasons any time soon. With that being said, 80-2-0 sounds pretty similar if you say it fast enough, and given the Rangers’ recent hot streak, maybe that shouldn’t be out of the question quite yet either.

The Blueshirts are rolling, with a league-high four-game winning streak in tow, and look like much more of a force this season compared to years past while riding the exceptional play of Igor Shesterkin. The Rangers look like they may finally be clicking on all cylinders, and are going to emerge as a legitimate Stanley Cup threat sooner rather than later.

Even though they’re held out of the basement by the still winless San Jose Sharks, who are putting on a masterclass in tanking into the earth’s crust, nowhere are the vibes as horrific as they are in Calgary. Losers of five straight, including a crushing defeat at the hands of their provincial rivals in the Heritage Classic.

Nikita Zadorov perhaps best articulated the feelings of fans in Cowtown, who are desperate to get out from under the dark cloud that has followed them since the exodus of their stars two summers ago.