This Stat Corner covers the past three days since Sunday and Monday’s schedules were a little weaker. It sees multiple players reach impressive league and franchise marks, while others show clear signs of breakouts and good things to come. This may be the last edition where there’s any mention of fast starts for any team, but I can’t make any promises for players.
Patrick Kane Joins Elite Company Atop Multiple Leaderboards
Patrick Kane is the third player to record 1100 career regular-season points for the Chicago Blackhawks, joining Stan Mikita (1467) and Bobby Hull (1153). Kane is also the fourth U.S.-born player to record 1100 points. Only Mike Modano (1374), Phil Housley (1232), and Jeremy Roenick (1216) have recorded more.
It’s no coincidence that the Blackhawks have started to turn their season around when Kane returned to the lineup. He has made his impact early with the team, recording five goals and 13 points in 10 games. With four fewer games played than most of his teammates, he leads the Blackhawks in scoring.
Kane is making a bid to go down as the best all-time Blackhawks player and best American to ever play in the NHL. He is well on his way and is still scoring at a great pace as the years go on. If he and the team decide to stick it out and Kane continues to play in Chicago, Mikita’s 1467 points are not out of the question. We haven’t seen signs of Kane slowing down yet, even on a struggling Blackhawks out of the gate. As for the most points by a U.S.-born player, I believe he will reach that no matter where he plays.
Capitals’ Russian Continue to Score
Alex Ovechkin tied Brett Hull for the fourth-most goals in NHL history with 741. He will surely take sole possession of that in the coming days at the scoring pace he’s been on. He has Jaromir Jagr in his sights for third in NHL history with 766. He has a league-leading 11 goals in 12 games this season and should blow by that mark by the end of the season.
He recorded the 600th assist of his career. Well known for his goal-scoring ability, we sometimes forget that Ovechkin can still pass the puck. His points put him at 29th in NHL history, passing Dave Andreychuk.
Related: NHL Stat Corner: Oilers, Coyotes, Panthers, & More
Evgeny Kuznetsov moved into 11th on the Washington Capitals‘ points list with 432. He passed Dennis Maruk. Many forget about the fellow countryman of Ovechkin as Kuznetsov is flying through the Capitals’ leaderboard. He is having a nice start to the season after rumours that the team was looking to ship him off. He also recorded his 300th assist. He is just 40 points away from joining the franchise’s top-10 scorers, and it can be done this season.
Terry & McDavid Extend Point Streaks
Troy Terry extends his career-best 12-game point streak. It is the longest of the 2021-22 season. Only four other players have recorded point streaks of 12 games last season: Nathan MacKinnon (15 GP), Dougie Hamilton (14 GP), Auston Matthews (13 GP), and Adam Fox (12 GP). If Terry wasn’t held scoreless in the first game of the season, we would be talking about a season-opening point streak. Regardless, he is at the head of the charge in allowing the Anaheim Ducks to get off to a good start. He has been a big part in turning the worst power play of all-time last season into a respectable one this year. I will continue to follow this league-best point streak until it is no more.
Connor McDavid is the seventh player in NHL history to record at least six point streaks of 10 or more games before age 25. He joins Wayne Gretzky (14), Denis Savard (8), Pierre Turgeon (7), Mario Lemieux (7), Paul Coffey (7), and Mike Bossy (7). A very exclusive list for McDavid, and that’s what is to be expected at this point. Not only does he have a point in every game this season, but it also extends to the end of last season where he pushed himself to reach 100 points in a 56-game season.
Player & Teams Stats From Around the League
Team
- The Carolina Hurricanes set a new franchise record for the fewest games to reach 10 wins in a season, doing it in 11 games.
- The Toronto Maple Leafs have gotten 14 straight goals from only four players: Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares, and William Nylander.
Player
- Detroit Red Wings’ Sam Gagner played his 900th career game. He and his father Dave Gagner are the sixth father-son duo to play at least 900 games each in the NHL, joining Bobby and Brett Hull, Thomas and Alex Steen, Peter and Paul Stastny, Mike and Nick Foligno, and Gordie and Mark Howe.
- Aleksander Barkov became the top goal-scorer in Florida Panthers franchise history with 189, passing Olli Jokinen.
- Blake Wheeler recorded his 700th career point with the Winnipeg Jets. He has 810 in his career.
- Igor Shesterkin is 8-0-0 in his career when making 40 or more saves (“Igor Shesterkin’s teammates abandoned him as Rangers look alarmingly familiar”, New York Post, Nov. 9, 2021).
- Chris Kreider moved into a tie for 14th in New York Rangers franchise history with 186 goals, tying Dean Prentice.
- David Perron played his 616th game for the St. Louis Blues, tied for the 10th most in franchise history with Bobby Plager.
- Brandon Saad scored the fastest goal of the season at 13 seconds into the game.
- Head coach Craig Berube coached his 200th game for the Blues. He is the eighth coach to reach that mark for the franchise.
- Danny DeKeyser played his 500th career game for the Detroit Red Wings.
- Brandon Tanev recorded his 100th career point.
- The Anaheim Ducks’ Benoit-Oliver Groulx scored his first career goal.
Gagner was able to play his 900th game in front of the team that drafted him and joins some elite father-son duos throughout history. Barkov just continues to prove that he is the best player to ever suit up for the Panthers, and will only add to that with each game. This is while Krieder and Perron climb their respective teams’ all-time lists while they have been playing well this season. With so many records waiting to be broken, continue to stay up to date with all the stats and milestones from players and teams around the league every couple of days.
