An eventful couple of days had some NHL teams continue to excel while others continued to fail. From streaks to milestones to franchise marks, everything stat-related from the past two days can be found here. Many milestones are fast-approaching, and records could be broken on any given night.
Flames Historically Sweep Road Trip
The Calgary Flames are the third team in NHL history to sweep a five-plus game road trip and never trail in a game. They joined the 1996 Chicago Blackhawks and 2017 St. Louis Blues. What’s impressive is the entire team is playing great; 16 players have at least one point and all four lines are running after they spread out the scoring. Johnny Gaudreau looks to have returned to form, while Andrew Mangiapane is enjoying an early breakout season. He and Elias Lindholm have both scored seven goals in the team’s first eight games. The entire roster is buying into what head coach Darryl Sutter is preaching.
Jacob Markstrom is the first goaltender in Flames history to record three shutouts in four games. He is on another level and better than he has been in his career. It is still early, but three shutouts in the first six games of the season speaks for itself. The Flames are sixth in the NHL, averaging 3.63 goals per game (GF/GP) and second in goals-against per game (GA/GP) with 1.88, which shows that the Flames could succeed if they lost one of the two, but they are a force sitting comfortably in the top-10 in each.
Hurricanes Stay Perfect With Play of Stars
The Carolina Hurricanes have extended their best start in franchise history to 7-0-0. They are the last remaining undefeated team after the Florida Panthers lost their ninth game of the season. Again, this is a full-team effort, and the offseason acquisitions are helping. The Hurricanes are showing that they are now annual Stanley Cup contenders.
Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov are the second pair of teammates in franchise history to start the season on 7-game point streaks, joining Ron Francis (11 games) and Risto Siltanen (7 games) in 1984-85. We already knew what kind of player Aho was, we were just waiting for Svechnikov’s goal-scoring ability to shine through, and it has. With a goal per game through seven, Svechnikov is tied for second in goals with a few players, trailing only Alex Ovechkin.
Tony DeAngelo recorded the first “Gordie Howe” Hat Trick for the Hurricanes since Brandon Sutter in 2012. The controversial pickup during the offseason is proving successful as DeAngelo has been solid doing what he does best: score points. He was brought in to fill a huge void left by Dougie Hamilton, and he’s held up his end of the bargain thus far, adding a bit of grit as well.
Related: NHL Stat Corner: Panthers, Maple Leafs, Canadiens, Flames, Ducks
Panthers Fall Just Short After Historic Start
Florida Panthers are the seventh team in franchise history to start a season 8-0-0. They were two wins back of the NHL record of 10 consecutive wins to start a season set by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1993-94 and the Buffalo Sabres in 2006-07. A heartbreaking loss to the Boston Bruins ended the streak after a very close contest that saw the Panthers lose in a shootout. I still think that overtime needs to be extended to 10 minutes before a game is decided by a skills competition.
Jonathan Huberdeau played his 600th career game, all with the Panthers. He has one year remaining on his deal after this season, and both parties should be interested in an extension. He will be in store for a big raise and should continue to climb the franchise leaderboards.
Avalanche’s Cale Makar Joins Elite Company
Cale Makar is the sixth fastest defenceman in NHL history to reach 100 career points, doing it in 108 games. Only Harry Cameron (88 games), Mark Howe (94), Brian Leetch (102), Larry Murphy (105), and Phil Housley (106) have reached 100 points in fewer games.
What’s even more impressive is that the last one of these players to reach 100 career points faster was Leetch in 1989-90 when scoring was still very high in the NHL. Makar has shown early that he has the talent to become one of the most dominant defensemen the NHL has seen.
Player & Team Stats From Around the League
Team
- The Chicago Blackhawks set a franchise record with nine consecutive losses to start a season. They passed their previous franchise marks of eight games in 1953-54 (0-7-1) and 1999-2000 (0-4-4) (from “10 observations: Hawks shut out by Blues, remain winless”, NBC Sports Chicago, Oct. 30, 2021).
- The Edmonton Oilers scored a power-play goal in seven consecutive games to start a season, the most since 1986-87.
Player
- Alex Ovechkin tied his fewest games to reach 15 points in a season in his career. It took him eight games this season and the same in 2009-10. His 8-game season-opening point streak ties him for the best in franchise history with himself in 2005-06 and Alexander Semin in 2006-07.
- Brad Marchand is the fifth fastest in Bruins history to record 400 assists, accomplishing it in 811 games. Only Bobby Orr (437 games), Ray Bourque (544), Wayne Cashman (747), and David Krejci (774) did it in fewer games. He is only the 10th player to reach 400 assists with the franchise.
- Sidney Crosby tied Mario Lemieux for the most seasons played for the Pittsburgh Penguins with 17.
- Jonathan Bernier is just the second goalie in New Jersey Devils franchise history to win his first three starts with the franchise, joining Al Smith from 1980-81.
- Ryan Getzlaf moved into a tie with Teemu Selanne for the most points in Anaheim Ducks franchise history with 988. Troy Terry has a career-high 7-game point streak.
- Chris Kreider moved into sole possession of 27th for the New York Rangers in points all-time with 352.
- Luke Schenn played his 900th career game.
- Rudolfs Balcers played his 100th career game.
The Hurricanes’ undefeated season continues, while teams will try to cool off the red hot Flames. Can the Blackhawks get their first win anytime soon? How long will the Oilers’ power play dominate at a ridiculous rate? Getzlaf will surely become the Ducks’ franchise points leader by the next time the stat corner is brought to you.