Bottoms up in the NHL standings? Some Stanley Cup contenders are struggling early this season

Peter DeBoer was worried. The experienced coach now in his fifth NHL job was concerned his Dallas Stars would get off to a slow start after back-to-back trips to the Western Conference Final.

“Is it going to take a while to get going?” DeBoer wondered. “Are we going to have some type of hangover?”

While the Stars are doing more than fine, some of the other Stanley Cup contenders in the West are not faring so well. Colorado, Edmonton and Nashville combined to lose 13 of their first 17 games, turning the league's standings upside down through the first two weeks of the season.

“There are teams that are struggling to find their game a little bit,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “I don’t think year-to-year, you can look at it and be like, ‘Oh, I can’t believe top teams are struggling.’ ... I just think it just sort of depends on a lot of details of your game.”

Those details helped Dallas start 5-1-0. They have been particularly lacking for the Predators, who lost their first five games all in regulation and are the only team yet to pick up a point going into Tuesday night's home game against Boston.

Nashville has been outscored 23-10 after a $100 million free agent spending spree to add two-time Cup champion Steven Stamkos, 2023 playoff MVP Jonathan Marchessault and others.

“Every team goes through these stretches throughout the course of a season, but it certainly gets magnified when it’s right out of the gate, especially when the expectation for our group in here is a lot higher than what we’re showing right now,” said Stamkos, who left Tampa Bay after 16 seasons to sign a four-year, $32 million contract. “You look at some of the teams that have started slow and gone on to have really good season, but we’re challenged with some adversity here and we have to find a way out of it.”

A year ago, the Oilers lost 13 of their first 18 games and were 30th out of 32 teams at U.S. Thanksgiving before a coaching change from Jay Woodcroft to Kris Knoblauch started to pay dividends. Edmonton reached the Cup final before losing to Florida.

The Oilers lost their first three games this season and have been one of the lowest-scoring teams in the league so far, even with three-time MVP Connor McDavid, freshly extended Leon Draisaitl and their full complement of offensive stars on the ice.

“We’re getting beat in a lot of different ways,” McDavid said recently. “The puck play has been bad all over. Guys have been fumbling it, guys not handling it. Passes in the air, passes behind guys, it’s just not good enough.”

The Avalanche have 100 giveaways through six games and the defense and goaltending have not been good enough to compensate. It does not help that Valeri Nichushkin is suspended, captain Gabriel Landeskog is still not back from a multiyear absence since hoisting the Cup in 2022 and injuries continue to decimate the lineup.

“We’re getting in these races against other teams right now, and we don’t have the firepower that we normally would have,” forward Logan O'Connor said. "I think it’s on us to defensively, just smarten up and figure out that that’s where we really got to focus on and bear down and frustrate other teams." Because we can’t get frustrated ourselves.”

Turnovers and other mistakes are going to happen. Stars defenseman Thomas Harley said that particularly in October “it takes a little bit to get out of shinny habits in the summer” and this is the time to “bear down and work on the less fun parts of the game.”

The hockey is pretty fun to watch right now, though, with pucks flying into nets all over. Teams are scoring an average of 6.4 goals per game through the first 89 — which would be the highest in more than three decades.

“I think the shooters are ahead of the goaltenders a little bit, and I think everybody’s checking game is not in order,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “Checking to me is habits, it’s details and it takes a while: Sticks on the ice, playing through hands, angles, not stuff you work on in the middle of August and July. That’s what I think happens early in the year. There’s more chances. You’ll still see some 2-1 games. That probably means the goaltending has been very good."

Almost all the teams atop the NHL at the moment have gotten good goaltending. Dallas' Jake Oettinger leads the league with a .953 save percentage, Connor Hellebuyck of the undefeated Winnipeg Jets has the lowest goals-against average at 1.25 and the New York Rangers have gotten some stellar play out of pending free agent Igor Shesterkin, who's 3-0-1 with a 1.97 GAA and .935 save percentage.

New Jersey has played more than anyone else, but the Devils under new coach Sheldon Keefe have made the most of it by going 5-2-1 from Prague to North America. The Capitals lost their home opener to the Devils before beating them on the road and are off to a 3-1-0 start.

“I love this team,” goaltender Charlie Lindgren said. “We all came in with a little bit of an attitude and that’s a good thing.”

All eyes are on Alex Ovechkin's pursuit of Wayne Gretzky's career goals record, and he is now 41 from breaking it, but he's not even Washington's leading scorer. Dylan Strome has a team-high seven points and Tom Wilson a team-high five goals. Only four players in the league have more than Wilson.

“He’s playing really, really well, and he’s being rewarded for it,” coach Spencer Carbery said. “We need production and we needed guys to put pucks in the back of the net, and he’s leading the way right now.”

AP Sports Writer Pat Graham in Denver, AP freelancer writer Jim Diamond in Nashville and the Canadian Press contributed.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Anaheim Ducks right wing Troy Terry, top, jumps over Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar, bottom, in pursuit of the puck in overtime of an NHL hockey game Friday, Oct. 18, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid (97) shoots the puck past Nashville Predators left wing Cole Smith (36) during the third period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Edmonton Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch stands behind the team bench in the third period during an NHL hockey game against the Dallas Stars, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Richard W. Rodriguez)

Edmonton Oilers center Leon Draisaitl (29) passes the puck past Nashville Predators center Jonathan Marchessault (81) and defenseman Brady Skjei (76) during the third period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Colorado Avalanche players Samuel Girard (49), center left, Nathan MacKinnon (29), center right, and Justus Annunen (60), far right, defend a shot as San Jose Sharks left wing Fabian Zetterlund (20) looks to score during the third period of an NHL hockey game in San Jose, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Minh Connors)

Dallas Stars centers Logan Stankoven (11) and Roope Hintz (24) celebrate after a goal against Edmonton Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner (74) in the third period during an NHL hockey game on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Richard W. Rodriguez)

Nashville Predators defenseman Roman Josi (59) chases the past Edmonton Oilers left wing Zach Hyman (18) during the third period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Colorado Avalanche goaltender Alexandar Georgiev drinks during a timeout in the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Anaheim Ducks, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks edged back from their all-time highs Monday as some of the steam came out of Wall Street’s long, record-breaking rally.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.2%, coming off a sixth straight winning week, its longest such streak of the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 344 points, or 0.8%, from its own record that was likewise set on Friday, while the Nasdaq composite rose 0.3%.

Trading was mixed in markets around the world. Crude oil prices rose to regain some of last week’s sharp losses, while U.S. Treasury yields climbed and stock indexes mostly fell in Europe after finishing mixed in Asia.

The rise in yields helped knock down stocks that tend to get hurt by higher interest rates, such as big dividend payers and businesses in the housing industry. Real-estate stocks fell to the sharpest loss among the 11 sectors that make up the S&P 500 index, while homebuilders Lennar and D.R. Horton both fell at least 4.3%. Home Depot’s 2.1% drop was one of the heaviest weights on the S&P 500.

The declines mean at least a pause in Wall Street’s rally to records, which was built in large part on optimism that the U.S. economy can make a perfect escape from the worst inflation in generations, one that ends without a painful recession that many investors had worried could be inevitable. With the Federal Reserve now cutting interest rates to keep the economy humming, the expectation among optimists is that stocks can rise even further.

But critics are warning that stock prices look too expensive given how much faster they’ve climbed than corporate profits.

That puts pressure on companies to deliver growth in profits to justify their stock prices, and more than 100 companies in the S&P 500 are scheduled to give details this week about their performances during the summer. That includes such heavyweights as AT&T, Coca-Cola, IBM, General Motors and Tesla.

Tesla slipped 0.8% ahead of its report. Its stock has been shaky recently, including a tumble after an update on its highly anticipated robotaxi included fewer details than investors were hoping for.

Boeing is reporting its latest results on Wednesday. It rose 3.1% after reaching an agreement with the union representing its striking machinists on a contract proposal. The union’s members could vote Wednesday on the deal, which could end a costly walkout that has crippled production of airplanes for more than a month.

Spirit Airlines soared 53.1% after the carrier was able to extend a credit-card processing agreement. Coming into the day, the airline’s stock had lost 91% in the year so far following the cancellation of its planned merger with JetBlue.

Trump Media & Technology Group rose 5.8% to top $31, continuing its strong run since it briefly dipped below $12 last month. The company behind former President Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform is still losing money, but its stock often moves more with his perceived chances of reelection than anything else.

Markets appear to be rotating towards a possible Trump win, according to Michael Wilson and other strategists at Morgan Stanley. They point to how stocks of financial companies have helped to lead the market this month, and consumer companies that could be hurt by tariffs are lagging. Bond yields are also rising, along with some precious metals prices and cryptocurrencies.

All told, the S&P 500 fell 10.69 points Monday to 5,853.98. The Dow dropped 344.31 to 42,931.60, and the Nasdaq composite rose 50.45 to 18,540.00.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.19% from 4.08% late Friday.

This upcoming week doesn’t include many top-tier economic reports to move Treasury yields. A preliminary update will arrive on Thursday about U.S. business activity.

The Bank of Canada will also announce its latest decision on interest rates Wednesday, where it could cut by half a percentage point.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in China after its central bank cut a couple lending rates. Lower rates can help reduce pressure on borrowers, particularly the property developers that have suffered following a crackdown on excessive borrowing several years ago. But any impact on market sentiment appeared to be short-lived.

Stocks rose 0.2% in Shanghai but fell 1.6% in Hong Kong. Chinese stocks have been zooming higher and lower in recent weeks. A slowdown for the world’s second-largest economy has raised expectations for big stimulus from the Chinese government and central bank, though doubts are still prevalent about how much effect they will have.

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

FILE - People pass the New York Stock Exchange, at rear, in New York's Financial District on Oct. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)

FILE - A man approaches an entrance to the New York Stock Exchange on Sept. 26, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)

Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, right, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Currency traders watch monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A currency trader reads documents near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)