This edition of the Stat Corner sees a lot of franchise streaks matched or beaten, while others come to an end. Soon the talk about best and worst starts will be over as we get deeper into the season. Some players have made their mark early with their respective franchises and give hope for the future of the organizations. All that plus a first-ever matchup and a high-scoring affair is on tap this time. Catch up on all the stats and milestones from the heavy portion of the weekend as Sunday’s games are ahead.
Draisaitl & Oilers Rewind Clock in Ode to ’80s Dynasty
The Edmonton Oilers have won nine of their first 10 games of the season for the first time in franchise history. The Oilers are the first team to score a power-play goal in each of the first 10 games to start a season since the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2007-08. Comparing this to the dynasty that the organization had in the 1980s, this is impressive and accomplished with all the greats in the building for Kevin Lowe’s number being raised to the rafters. It was capped off with an amazing comeback from three goals down and a highlight-reel goal by Connor McDavid.
The comeback was capped off with an overtime goal by none other than the league leader in goals, Leon Draisaitl. He is the first Oilers player to score 10 goals in the teams’ first 10 games since Glenn Anderson in 1985-86. Proving why he is a 50-goal scorer, he’s making an early bid to reach that mark for the second time in his career.
Coyotes Snap Winless Drought With High-Scoring Affair
The Arizona Coyotes have tied the second-longest winless streak in NHL history to start a season at 11 games, also matching their 2017-18 season. The only team to have a longer streak was the New York Rangers in 1943-44 when they started 0-14-1. After entering full rebuild mode, nobody expected this team to win many games, but maybe not compete for the NHL record worst start and season. In their 12th game of the season, the winless drought was snapped with a late third-period comeback win in regulation. That has to provide some confidence for the young group in the desert. The Coyotes’ Andre Tourigny also got his first win as an NHL coach.
It was the sixth time in NHL history that the first three goals were scored in the first 93 seconds in the game between the Coyotes and the Seattle Kraken. It was also the first time goals were scored on the first three shots of the game since the Montreal Canadiens and Panthers in 2007. This caused the Coyotes’ rookie goaltender Karel Vejmelka to be pulled after allowing two goals on as many shots. This shouldn’t take away from the season he’s had thus far on a team that has struggled mightily in front of him.
Related: NHL Stat Corner: Bruins, Oilers, Panthers, Hat Tricks, & More
Panthers Continue to Match All-Time Start
The Florida Panthers tied the best 11-game start in NHL history with 21 points (10-0-1). (“Panthers hand Hurricanes first loss, improve to 10-0-1; Antti Raanta injured in collision,” The Athletic, 11/6/21) The only other two teams that got 21 points in their first 11 games were the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1994-95 and Buffalo Sabres in 2006-07. The Panthers can continue to match the record for the best start if they win their next game against the Rangers. It’ll tie them with the 1994-95 Penguins and 2006-07 Sabres with 23 points in the first 12 games.
It is the first time the Panthers have reached 100 regular-season points in a calendar year. They have 24 games remaining in 2021 and have more points than any other team this year. This is in part because of the condensed schedule to begin the 2020-21 season that started in January, but also because they have emerged as a powerhouse in the NHL.
The matchup between the Carolina Hurricanes and the Panthers marked the first-ever meeting between teams with active season-opening point streaks of nine or more games. The Panthers won this game despite being without their captain Aleksander Barkov.
Player & Team Stats From Around the NHL
Team
- The Columbus Blue Jackets tied the team’s best start to a season at 7-3-0.
- Lou Lamoriello is the third general manager in history to reach 1,500 wins, regular season and playoffs. Only David Poile (1,558) and Glen Sather (1,506) have more.
Player
- Troy Terry is the sixth player in franchise history to have a point streak of 10 games. It is the longest of his career, the longest from an Anaheim Ducks player since 2016, and tying him with McDavid for the longest active point streak in the NHL.
- Moritz Seider was the second Detroit Red Wings player and first defenceman to score his first NHL goal in overtime. The only other player to do it for the franchise was Mud Bruneteau in 1935.
- Kirill Kaprizov is the fastest player to record 60 points among players to debut with the Minnesota Wild. It took him 65 games.
- Sean Monahan scored his 206th career goal and moved into eighth on the Calgary Flames’ all-time list, passing Eric Vail.
- Rasmus Ristolainen recorded his 200th career assist. It was his first point since joining the Philadelphia Flyers.
- Yegor Chinakhov recorded his first career point for the Blue Jackets, an assist.
Seider and fellow rookie Lucas Raymond continue to surprise and showcase their talents for a young and upcoming Red Wings team. Terry has really shown signs of having a breakout year in a season where the spotlight was on the rookies, while the Blue Jackets continue to roll and keep pace in a very tough Metropolitan Division. Next time we shall see if any streaks are still intact and how many more players will reach new milestones or match new records.
