This edition of the stat corner takes into account the last three days considering Sunday and Monday had hardly any games on the schedule. It features a couple of historic games featuring winning streaks, losing streaks, and ironman streaks. Goals and games played milestones are prominent with some unexpected stat along the way.
Patrick Kane Passes Larmer and Savard on Franchise Lists
Patrick Kane moved into third in goals in Chicago Blackhawks franchise history with 408, passing Steve Larmer. He also has the ninth-most hat trick from a U.S.-born player in NHL history with seven. Keith Tkachuk (9), Bill Guerin (9), Jeremy Roenick (10), Jimmy Carson (10), Kevin Stevens (11), Joe Mullen (11), John Leclair (11), and Pat LaFontaine (13) have more. This hat trick by Kane in his first game back with the team helped the team win their first game of the season after a historically bad start. He still has a ways to go to climb the franchise goals list any higher, with Stan Mikita at 541 career goals with the Blackhawks and Bobby Hull at 604.
Kane also moved into third in franchise points with 1097, passing Denis Savard in the same game. He has less of a trek to climb the leaderboards in points, as he only needs 56 to move into second with Hull. He will be a very key player in the Blackhawks’ chances to turn their season around.
Goals Continue to Come Easy for Auston Matthews
Auston Matthews recorded his 40th multi-goal game since his debut with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2016-17, second in that span to only Alex Ovechkin with 43. To establish yourself as a goal-scorer of that pedigree from such a young age is very impressive, especially when you stack up against probably the greatest goal-scorer of all time. He is the 11th player in franchise history with 40 multi-goal games in his career. His three multi-goal games against the Vegas Golden Knights are the most since they debuted in 2017.
TJ Brodie played his 700th career game. He got to play it as a member of the Maple Leafs after playing 634 games for the Calgary Flames. He has not been the problem this season in the team’s struggles, as the team has controlled more of the play while he is on the ice while starting 51.4 percent of the time in the defensive zone.
Chris Kreider Helps Rangers Win on the Road
The New York Rangers set a franchise record with five road wins in October, also the most through the first nine games of a season. This has helped them get off to a great start after a bad opening night game at home. Generally, teams are better in their home arena, but if you can find success on the road, it makes the team very dangerous anywhere they play.
Related: NHL Stat Corner: Flames, Hurricanes, Panthers, Avalanche, & More
Chris Kreider is tied with the 15th most goals in franchise history with 184 with Phil Esposito. With seven goals on the season in only 10 games, Kreider is flying through the Rangers’ all-time goals list and has played very well this season. His most goals in a season are 28, and he’s shooting 9.3 percent above his career average, so expect his goal production to slow down. Kreider also has goals in three straight games played on Halloween, so don’t bet against the Rangers when they next play.
Ironman Streaks Face-Off
It was the first time in NHL history where two players with consecutive games played streaks of over 900 faced off. Philadelphia Flyers’ Keith Yandle played his 930th game in a row while Phil Kessel of the Arizona Coyotes played his 910th consecutive game. They own the longest active “ironman” streaks in the NHL. They were unable to play against each other last season due to teams only playing within their division for 56 games. Either way, they would’ve had to match up late in the season. At the rate both Yandle and Kessel are going, they will both pass the ironman record set by Doug Jarvis.
The matchup between the Carolina Hurricanes and Arizona Coyotes was the first time in NHL history a game featured an undefeated team and a winless team through their first seven games of the season. The Hurricanes were 7-0-0 and the Coyotes were 0-7-1. Both streaks continued with the game going to the Hurricanes by a score of 2-1.
Player Stats From Around the League
- Connor McDavid & Leon Draisaitl both have 17 points in eight games this season. The last teammates to have this was Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr in 1995-96.
- Ryan Getzlaf recorded his 989th career point, passing Teemu Selanne for the most in Anaheim Ducks franchise history.
- Pierre-Luc Dubois and Kyle Connor are the first duo to score seven goals through the first nine games of the season in a Winnipeg Jets jersey since Teemu Selanne and Keith Tkachuk in 1994-95.
NHL Firsts
- Ryan Merkley scored his first NHL goal for the San Jose Sharks.
- Minnesota Wild’s Calen Addison scored his first career goal.
- Brett Leason scored his first NHL goal for the Washington Capitals.
- Seth Jarvis recorded his first career point, an assist, in his first game with the Hurricanes.
- Tampa Bay Lightning’s Taylor Raddysh recorded his first NHL point, an assist.
Games Played Milestones
- Duncan Keith played his 1200 career game, 1192 with the Blackhawks, and eight with the Edmonton Oilers.
- Sean Couturier played his 700th NHL game. He is the first player selected in the 2011 NHL Draft to reach this mark.
- Frederik Andersen played his 400th NHL game, he has a record of 233-100-48.
- Sean Monahan played his 600th career game for the Calgary Flames.
- Nashville Predators’ Mikael Granlund played his 600th NHL game.
- Chris Tierney appeared in his 500th career game.
Many rookies got their first goals or points in the NHL over the past few days, while others reached significant games played milestones. Getzlaf is now the Ducks’ franchise leader in points and should reach 1000 points in his career soon. The Maple Leafs have turned their season around thanks to the production of Matthews and his return to the lineup. It is a treat to be watching hockey in this era and seeing some of the best reach new heights in the game every night.