from Scott Cullen of TSN,

Observations from the first week of the NHL season, including trouble in Philadelphia, strong starts for Kyle Turris, Tomas Hertl and Jaroslav Halak, the Maple Leafs' goaltending competition, Martin Erat's lack of ice time in Washington and more.

- Senators C Kyle Turris is leading Senators forwards with 18:57 time on ice through two games, putting up four points and a plus-4 rating in the process. A healthy (ish) Jason Spezza frees Turris from the oppositon's best defensive players.

- Sharks rookie LW Tomas Hertl scored a pair of goals against Phoenix Saturday and has three points in his first two NHL games. Liked him coming into the season, because of his opportunity playing alongside C Joe Thornton and RW Brent Burns, so it's encouraging to see immediate results.

- Blues G Jaroslav Halak has stopped 47 of 49 shots (.959 SV%) in the first two games, giving him an early edge on Brian Elliott in the Blues' goaltending battle. Halak has 15 shutouts in 121 games with the Blues since coming over from Montreal.

- Red Wings RW Justin Abdelkader is getting a premium opportunity this year, skating with Red Wings superstars LW Henrik Zetterberg and C Pavel Datsyuk, who he finished with last season, when he scored nine goals in the final 20 regular season games. Abdelkader has a couple points in three games to start the year, and is tied for third in the league with 15 hits, despite playing a modest 13:41 per game.

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