This edition of the NHL Stat Corner covers the last three days in the NHL. It has been a little slower with the amount of games, but there’s still no lack of player and team stats and milestones. There are a lot of personal milestones reached, while others climb their franchise lists. All that and more for you this time.
Oilers’ Stars Continue to Climb Franchise Lists
Connor McDavid moves into seventh in goals in Edmonton Oilers history with 210. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is the 10th player in franchise history to record 500 career points. There was a lot of room to rise through the franchise ranks this season for three individuals in particular: McDavid, Nugent-Hopkins, and Leon Draisaitl. In just a few days, two of them jumped in major categories. Though Nugent-Hopkins didn’t move out of 10th place in points, he did hit 500. Meanwhile, McDavid is just nine goals behind teammate Draisaitl with 71 fewer games played.
McDavid (21) and Draisaitl (16) have the most four-point games since 2015-16. Nikita Kucherov also has 16. A team that has been led by its stars for as long as they’ve been in the league, with better depth on the team now, McDavid and Draisaitl don’t have to continue to score like this, but they will.
Draisaitl played his 500th career game. That also moves him up the franchise leaderboard. He currently sits in the top-25, but should climb into the top-20 this season since he rarely misses a game. Kailer Yamamoto and Derek Ryan became the first players born in the state of Washington to play a regular season game there. It happened when the Oilers visited the Seattle Kraken. Seeing as there is finally a team in this state, it was bound to happen this season, but it is a bit more rare that the first occurrence is with two players who are on the same team.
Spreading the Wealth Paying Off in Toronto
There are only two teams that have four players with 20 or more points, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Washington Capitals. These players for the Maple Leafs are John Tavares (25), William Nylander (23), Auston Matthews (22), and Mitch Marner (21). Unlike last season when Matthews and Marner led the team and ran away with the points during the regular season, the scoring has been really spread out this season, and it goes beyond the top-four who have managed to top 20 points thus far this season. Among these four, three of them also have 10 or more goals, while Marner is the next closest.
Related: NHL Stat Corner: Maple Leafs, Kraken, Predators, Stars, Panthers, Sabres
The Maple Leafs lead the NHL in goalposts hit with 28, with the next closest team being the Columbus Blue Jackets. After the Maple Leafs have been getting no “puck luck” all season long, they have finally got themselves back to average “puck luck” amidst their recent dominance. Matthews also scored the fourth hat trick of his career. He has been heating up and looks to defend his title for the league’s top goal scorer.
Makar & Kadri Leading the Avalanche
Nazem Kadri of the Colorado Avalanche scored his 200th career goal. He is the fifth player from the 2009 Draft to reach 200 goals, joining Tavares, Matt Duchene, Evander Kane, and Ryan O’Reilly. It’s an impressive group to join, as he has quietly had an incredible season offensively for the Avalanche in the absence of Nathan MacKinnon for half of the time.
Cale Makar is the sixth-fastest defenceman since 1967 to score 10 goals in a season (18 games played (GP)). The only defencemen to do it in fewer games were Phil Housley (15 GP in 1987-88), Paul Reinhart (16 GP in 1984-85), Bobby Orr (16 GP in 1974-75), Doug Wilson (17 GP in 1981-82), and Bobby Orr (17 GP in 1973-74). The Avalanche hope this continues at a rate close to where it is. It is very hard for defencemen to sustain goal scoring of this caliber, but if someone in today’s game is going to do it, it would be Makar with his ability to walk the line and get shots through.
Kreider’s Goals Stand Alone From Teams
Chris Kreider has 16 goals this season — no other player on the New York Rangers has more than six. This speaks to how good he has been offensively, but also how some of the known goal scorers on the team haven’t been producing like they should.
Mika Zibanejad recorded his 300th career point. The Rangers are still benefiting off the deal they made with the Ottawa Senators that saw Zibanejad come their way for Derick Brassard. After a recent contract extension, the team hopes he can once again find his goal-scoring touch and add to Kreider’s production.
Panthers Making Comebacks a Regular Occurrence
The Panthers are the ninth team in NHL history to come back from a three-goal deficit in consecutive games and win. They accomplished this against the Washington Capitals and Buffalo Sabres. It’s no coincidence that both of these comebacks took place in their home building where they’ve been absolutely dominant, with a record of 13-1-0. Lucas Carlsson also scored his first career goal.
Player & Team Stats From Around the NHL
Team
- The Carolina Hurricanes lost in regulation at home in consecutive games for the first time since the 2019-20 season.
Player
- Quinn Hughes is the first Vancouver Canucks defenceman to record four assists in a game since 1995, accomplished by Jeff Brown.
- Sean Monahan moved into seventh place on the Calgary Flames’ franchise goals list with 207.
- Taylor Hall played his 700th career game.
- Detroit Red Wings’ Thomas Greiss recorded his 150th career win.
- Anton Forsberg recorded a career-high 47 saves. It ties the Ottawa Senators record for saves in a win, also done by Craig Anderson in 2011.
- Los Angeles Kings’ Alex Edler scored his 100th career goal.
- Andrew Copp of the Winnipeg Jets recorded his 100th career assist.
- Viktor Arvidsson played his 400th career game.
- Boston Bruins’ Jeremy Swayman recorded his third career shutout and first of the season.
- Kole Lind of the Kraken recorded his first career point.
- Arizona Coyotes’ Travis Boyd recorded his 50th career point.
Quinn Hughes continues to make his mark on the Canucks early on in his career, while longtime Canucks’ defenceman just reached a significant goal milestone on a new team. Despite struggles over the past couple of years, Monahan seems like he’s playing a lot better and contributing once again to the Flames. Check back soon for the next installment of the NHL Stat Corner.