Nearly every season there is a team in the NHL that starts the campaign head and shoulders above the rest of the league, before either fading in the second half or remaining at the forefront of the Stanley Cup conversation.
Last season that team was the New York Rangers, who were 21-10-1 on Dec. 15, but played only so-so hockey the rest of the way, going 27-18-5.
Two seasons ago, Washington started 21-6-2, then stayed hot, going 35-16-6 in the final three-plus months.
This season, the Tampa Bay Lightning are the darlings of the hockey world, kicking off 2017-18 by winning 23 of their first 31 games, with 22 victories coming in regulation.