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ICYMI: 5 takeaways from the 1st week of the NHL season

Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports

A week of hockey is in the books. Yeah, time flies. Here's what we learned:

Goals are fun

Scoring is - to quote the inimitable poet Fat Joe - all the way up. And it makes the game a little bit more fun to watch.

Through 48 games, teams are averaging 3.18 goals a night. The last time we hit three - and the only time in the last 20 years - was in 2005-06, coming out of the lockout, when everyone and their mother was on the power play.

It won't last. Goaltenders are at .900 (save percentage) and 2.96 (goals-against average). They're better than that. They're too good, in fact. So enjoy the offense while it's here.

Hockey is booming in Florida

Florida: Hockey hotbed.

This isn't so much a surprise after the Panthers won the Atlantic and the Tampa Bay Lightning were again Eastern finalists, but neither team's lost in regulation through six games, and Tuesday night's in-state affair between the rivals was a back-and-forth thriller.

These are the halcyon days of hockey in the Sunshine State. Enjoy them, too.

Youth is served

It's a young man's game.

Eleven players have six or more points. Three of them - David Pastrnak, Leon Draisaitl, and Connor McDavid - are 20 and younger.

Another 19-year-old, Auston Matthews, you may have heard of him, is tied for the league lead in goals. And two more kids have four points: Jonathan Drouin (21) and Travis Konecny (19).

Montreal's got a backup

Al Montoya's already reached 14.2 percent of Mike Condon's 2015-16 win total - in three games.

With all due respect to Mr. Condon, he was very bad last season. He started a whopping 51 games for the Montreal Canadiens in relief of Carey Price and played an integral role in the Habs' collapse. A .903 save percentage isn't NHL-caliber goaltending. Not even close.

Montoya is 2-0-1 with a marvelous .962 save percentage while Price gets over the flu, and the 31-year-old veteran's only loss came in the glorified skills competition.

Montreal's five goals against through three games is second-best in the East and tied for second in the league. A small sample, no doubt, but at $950,000 for one year, Montoya's contract is looking awfully good early on.

Burns' face should be everywhere

Your leading scorer after one week: Brent Burns.

The San Jose Sharks defenseman - and one of the league's brightest personalities - is atop the scoring race after one week with three goals and five assists. And he keeps getting better.

Season GP Points
2013-14 69 48
2014-15 82  60
2015-16 82 75
2016-17 4 8

Burns is a character, and the NHL needs to tap into his marketability more. As otherworldly as guys like McDavid and Sidney Crosby are on the ice, they're as boring off the ice.

Burns is a superstar. Forget about the face of the league, the 31-year-old should be the beard of the league.

Approaching unrestricted free agency, this is for certain: Burns is about to become monumentally wealthy.

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