Holiday weekend: Gauthier, Robertson push their way into Olympics talks

Does November provide a sneak peek into a possible American Olympic revolution?

Never mind all month long, this past weekend alone has provided more evidence that some extremely talented Yanks are pushing their way into the five-figure conversation.

No one is hotter than Jason Robertson, who went 1-for-2 during Saturday’s 3-2 shootout loss to the Dallas Stars. The left winger has 11 points in 19 November games, more than any American NHLer. The only NHLers of any heritage to also have 19 points in the month are Canadians Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid.

Another dangerous American with 1-1-2 on Saturday was Cutter Gauthier, whose production came as part of a 4-3 overtime win for the Anaheim Bucks over the Vegas Golden Knights. Gauthier has exploded for 13 goals and the same number of assists for 22 points in 26 games as a league sophomore. That’s more points than every American except Robertson (28) and Team USA lock Jack Eichel (29).

We had an impressive comeback on Saturday, when the Atlantic-leading Detroit Red Wings scored twice in the second half of the third period to upset the Columbus Blue Jackets. In overtime, XD Brunkett skated the length of the ice and ripped a glancing shot over Jett Graves’ left shoulder and under the bar for a 4-3 victory.

De Brunket’s 39 goals last season were more than all but three Americans — a second more than that — and he’s been on fire for the surging wing team recently with nine points in his past half-dozen outings.

Leading all Americans in goals last season was Tage Thompson, who scored 44 goals. Thompson has scored 12 goals this year, including one during Friday night’s big 9-3 win over Chicago, and another on Sunday afternoon in an empty-netter to seal a 4-1 win over Carolina and cap it off for 48 hours.

It’s basically impossible to see how Thompson — who has nine points in his last six games — doesn’t make Team USA this time, especially after scoring the overtime marker that clinched the U.S. victory at the World Championships last May.

Like Thompson, Robertson, Gauthier and DeBrinquet were all left off the USA’s 4 Nations face-off list from last season. The same can be said for Cole Caffield, who has scored as many goals as any 13-year-old American this season, and Will Smith, who is nearly a point-per-game sophomore in San Jose while hearing all the talk about whether his Sharks teammate, Maclan Calibrini, will force his way onto Team Canada.

Will all the forwards whose calling card is offense make the squad? Of course not. But it’s easy to believe who’s going to make Team USA when both Tkachuk brothers, Austin Matthews and Jack Hughes, are all struggling. And while all four of these players are cemented on the team if healthy, the “if healthy” part of that phrase carries more weight than you think when you discuss each of them.

Now ask yourself if veterans Brock Nelson, Vincent Trochuk and Chris Kreider – all men who made the 4 Nations roster – are traveling to Italy in February.

The balance needs to be understood when building a roster meant to compete with the best national teams in the world, it’s safe to assume some turnover up front for stars and stripes.

And, at the moment, there is no shortage of super-skilled players showing why they deserve to be considered for a spot.

• Made it five straight, eight of seven and 9-1-1 in November for the scorching Minnesota Wild when they blanked the Jets in Winnipeg 3-0 on Sunday afternoon. This is how you turn things around from 3-6-3 October. Jasper Wallstadt, a long-shot prospect, is making good on that promise. The whitewash in Winnipeg was his third shutout of the month and Sweden — everything goes back to Olympic talk this year, right? – Has an impressive .970 save percentage over his last five outings. Mats Zuccarello made his season debut this month and quickly collected eight points in eight games, while Marcus Johansson continued to produce at an unpredictable clip. A goal on Friday in Pittsburgh and a sack against the Jets gives the veteran winger 15 points in his past 15 outings. Then there’s rookie center Danila Yuroff, who scored against the Jets for his fourth point in his last three contests. With the Avs on the rise, Dallas as strong as ever and Minnesota now roaring, the Central Division lives up to its billing as the NHL’s Group of Death.

• Speaking of the Central, Wild jumping the Jets into third place this weekend, leaving a single Canadian team in possession of a playoff spot as of Monday morning, and that’s the Ottawa Senators.

• After a 1-4-2 start — to say nothing of injuries to several key defensive personnel — the Tampa Bay Lightning are rolling. The Bolts’ 5-3 win at Washington on Saturday improved their record to 11-3-0 in their last 14 games. For all the talk of turnover in the Atlantic — with Ottawa, Detroit and Montreal trying to catch up — it wouldn’t surprise anyone to see cagey ol’ Tampa Bay back atop that group in April.

Red and white power ratings

1. Winnipeg Jets (12-9-0) Two starts, two ales for Eric Roome in the absence of Connor Hellebeck, who is out four to six weeks after knee surgery. It’s obviously not great, but no goalie could get a W for Winnipeg on Sunday when the Jets failed to score on the visiting Wild.

2. Ottawa Senators (11-6-4) Drake Betherson is on pace to produce 91 points, with another assist in Saturday’s 3-2 overtime win at San Jose.

3. Edmonton Oilers (10-9-5) The Oilers closed out a tough seven-game road trip with a big 4-3 win at Florida on Saturday. Now is the time to make some highs, with six of their next seven games at home.

4. Montreal Canadiens (11-7-3) The Habs’ team’s toughness quotient went up a few levels with Florin Shikaj getting a nod (and chipping in an assist) during his NHL debut in Saturday’s 5-2 win over the Leafs. Florian, big brother Arbor and the rest of the Habs are now on the road for a tough road trip through Utah, Vegas and Colorado.

5. Toronto Maple Leafs (9-10-3) Only four teams have a worse points percentage than Toronto. It just so happens that two of them are Canadian…

6. Calgary Flames (8-13-3) Vancouver made it three consecutive Ws for Calgary after Sunday night’s convincing 5-2 rout of the Canucks.

7. Vancouver Canucks (9-12-2) No one is giving up more goals per game this season than Vancouver, which has conceded 3.74 per contest to opponents.

• This week is feast or famine in terms of NHL games, as the schedule is based on the fact that Americans will feast all day on Thanksgiving Thursday. Tuesday’s lone game is a good one, as Dallas visits Edmonton in a rematch of the last two Western Conference finals, both won by the Oilers. Glenn Galtzan, who was an assistant coach with the Oilers from 2018 until he became the top man in Dallas last summer, returns to Northern Alberta.

• The second annual CHL/USA Top Prospects Challenge wraps up this week, with teams meeting in Calgary on Tuesday, followed by another contest 24 hours later in Lethbridge. The CHL team is headlined by the likes of power forward Ethan Belchitz of the Windsor Spitfires and offense-minded blueliner Xavier Villeneuve of the Blaineville-Boisbriand Armada. They will take on the U.S. National Team Development Program U-18 squad, which includes a potential first-rounder in big, right-shot defenseman Luke Shearer.

• There are two 15-game slates on Wednesday and Friday surrounding the Thanksgiving blackout of games on Thursday. Celebrini leads the Sharks to face Nathan MacKinnon and the Avs in Denver on Wednesday night, while Black Friday is the bevy of afternoon action. The Bolts and Wings kick things off with a big Atlantic tilt in Detroit at noon ET, followed by a prime-six duel in Boston between the Bruins and Rangers at 1pm ET and a good central battle between the Avs and red-hot Wild in Minny at 3:30 pm ET.

• Make some room Sunday afternoon to watch some of the brightest young guns in the game, as Gauthier, Leo Carlson and the rest of the Deacons visit Connor Bedard and the Blackhawks in Chicago.