On this edition of the NHL Stat Corner, there are tons of franchise and NHL marks being set and matched by players and teams. There are more than enough stats and milestones to grab your eye with any of the featured teams, plus much more.
Unstoppable Avalanche Offence
The Colorado Avalanche have gotten 32 goals from defencemen this season, an NHL-best. They had 26 goals from defencemen in 56 games last season. The Avalanche have scored 7-plus goals in a game seven times this season. They have the most seven-plus goal games in the first 30 games of the season since the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1995-96.
Cale Makar has recorded the fourth-most goals through the first 25 games of the season by a defenceman in NHL history (14). Only Dave Ellett (15) and Bobby Orr (15, twice) scored more. Nathan MacKinnon has the longest point streak in the NHL at 12 games. He has 23 points in that span and it is the fourth-longest point streak this season.
Along with being led by Makar, the Avalanche trio of MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog, and Mikko Rantanen have each recorded three-plus points in the same game six times. That’s second-most in franchise history to Peter Stastny, Anton Stastny, and Michel Goulet (11). It’s also the second-most among active trios, behind David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand, and Patrice Bergeron (7) of the Boston Bruins.
Landeskog also recorded his fourth career hat trick while Samuel Girard played his 300th career game.
History in the Making by Crosby, Rust, Guentzel
Bryan Rust is the sixth Penguin in the past 20 years to record eight-plus points over two games (5-3). He joins James Neal, Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby, Aleksey Morozov, and Mario Lemieux. Rust is the third player since 1943-44 to record 11-plus points in the first three games of a calendar year, joining Wayne Gretzky (1982, 1984) and Mario Lemieux (1997). Only four players have recorded more points in the first three games of a calendar year in NHL history: Gretzky (15), Lemieux (12), Newsy Lalonde (12), and Harry Cameron (12). Rust is tied with the third-most consecutive games with multiple goals (3), trailing only Lemieux in franchise history (5 and 4 GP).
The Penguins trailed for the first time against the St. Louis Blues on Jan. 5 since Dec. 1 in a loss to the Edmonton Oilers. The Penguins have won 10 consecutive games for the sixth time in franchise history. Sidney Crosby has been a part of half (three) of the 10-game winning streaks, trailing only Matt Cooke (four) for the most in NHL history.
Related: NHL Stat Corner: Penguins, Maple Leafs, Blues, Jets, Rangers, Oilers
Jake Guentzel is the fourth player in the past 30 years to have a season-opening road point streak of at least 13 games. He joins the company of Lemieux (14 GP in 1995-96), Steve Yzerman (14 GP in 1993-94), and Mats Sundin (14 GP in 1992-93).
Kirill Kaprizov’s Franchise-Best Start
Kirill Kaprizov is the fastest player in franchise history to reach 40 points in a season, doing so in 32 games. The previous mark was held by Marian Gaborik who reached 40 points in 36 games. Kaprizov is the second player in franchise history to record goal streaks of at least four games in consecutive seasons, joining Gaborik (four seasons, 2005-09).
Matt Boldy scored his first career goal in his NHL debut for the Minnesota Wild. He is the fourth player in franchise history to score a goal in his NHL debut under the age of 21. The others: Joel Eriksson Ek, Mikael Granlund, and Marian Gaborik. Boldy is the third player born in Massachusetts to score a goal in his NHL debut in Boston, and the first visiting player. He joins Ryan Donato (2018) and Shawn Bates (1997).
Joe Thornton Continues to Make History
Joe Thornton has scored in every calendar year since his first goal in 1997. That’s 26 consecutive years. Thornton played his 1700th career game. He is the sixth player to reach that mark.
The Florida Panthers scored 20 goals in three games between Dec. 30 and Jan. 4, the most over a three-game span in franchise history. They are the second team to do so this season, joining the Avalanche. The Panthers were 19-0-0 when scoring four or more goals until their loss to the Dallas Stars 6-5 in the shootout.
Troy Terry’s Breakout Season Gets More Prolific
Troy Terry recorded his first career hat trick. Terry is the second-fastest player in Anaheim Ducks history to score 20 goals in a season (35 GP). Only Corey Perry (33 GP) did so faster. The breakout season continues for Terry, as he checks off another couple of boxes for the franchise and joins elite company among former Ducks’ players in goals.
Jamie Drysdale has recorded the third-most points by a rookie defenceman in franchise history through their first 60 games (24). Only Francois Beauchemin (34) and Cam Fowler (29) recorded more. Head coach Dallas Eakins earned his 100th career win.
Lightning Remain on Top
The Tampa Bay Lightning were the first team to reach 50 points for the fourth time in the past five seasons. In his return, Nikita Kucherov made his mark. He has recorded 153 multi-point games, the fourth most in franchise history with two assists in his first game back from injury. Ondrej Palat also recorded his 400th career point.
Dustin Brown Rising Among American-Born Players
Dustin Brown scored his 321st career goal, 20th in NHL history among American-born players. Brown also played his 1263rd career game, moving into a tie for eighth among American-born players with Bill Guerin.
The Los Angeles Kings’ past three games have featured a penalty shot. The last time that has happened was in 2009 with the Montreal Canadiens.
Player & Team Stats & Milestones From Around the NHL
Team
- The Detroit Red Wings scored two shorthanded goals on the same penalty kill for the first time since 1999.The goals by Tyler Bertuzzi and Pius Suter on the same penalty kill were the seventh-fastest shorthanded goals in franchise history (37 seconds). It was the first time the team had scored a shorthanded goal in 100 games.
- The Toronto Maple Leafs tied their franchise best wins in the first 31 games of a season with 21 (21-8-2).
Player
- Jakub Voracek played his 1000th career game and is the second player from the 2007 draft to reach that mark.
- Alex DeBrincat scored two power-play goals in 40 seconds, the sixth-fastest in franchise history.
- Jason Robertson is the fourth player in franchise history to have home point streaks of 9-plus games in consecutive seasons, joining Loui Eriksson (10 GP in 2009-10 & 9 GP in 2010-11), Neal Broten (11 GP in 1981-82 & 13 GP in 1982-83), and Dino Ciccarelli (11 GP in 1982-83 & 10 GP in 1982-83).
- Johnny Gaudreau has recorded the eight-longest road point streak in Calgary Flames history (11).
- Jack Hughes’ 12 points (4-8-12) in his last five games is the most by a New Jersey Devils player in a 5-game span since Zach Parise in 2007-08.
- Brayden Schenn scored his 200th career goal.
- William Karlsson scored his 100th goal as a member of the Vegas Golden Knights.
- Johan Larsson recorded his first career hat trick.
- Bruins’ Oskar Steen scored his first career goal.
- Arizona Coyotes’ Janis Moser recorded his first two career assists.
- Yakov Trenin played his 100th career game.
The Red Wings pulled off a couple shorthanded goals that you don’t see very often, while the Maple Leafs continue to dominate and show they are one of the best teams in franchise history. A few welcome to the NHL moments and some young players already making their marks on their franchises. Come back in a few days for the next installment of the NHL Stat Corner and don’t miss any stats and milestones.
