from Adam Gretz of CBS Sports,

I went back over the last three full 82-game seasons (I excluded the 48-game lockout shortened season of 2012-13) and looked at how every team did in their first 10 games of the season and whether or not they ended up making the playoffs.

Surprisingly, the first 10 games is a pretty solid barometer as to whether or not a team is going to succeed or not in that season. Let's break it down.

Over the past three full seasons...

- Teams that posted a points percentage of at least .700 over the first 10 games of the season made the playoffs 73 percent of the time and won two of the three Stanley Cups (the 2010-11 Boston Bruins and 2011-12 Los Angeles Kings).

- Teams that were between .600 and .699 over their first 10 games made the playoffs 60 percent and won the other Stanley Cup (the 2013-14 Los Angeles Kings).

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