The latest edition of the NHL Stat Corner brings you all the latest player and team stats and milestones from around the league over the past two days. A lot of games have been getting postponed due to COVID but for the teams that are generally unaffected or are playing, the stats and milestones never stop.
Vasilevskiy’s Wins Puts Him in League of His Own
Andrei Vasilevskiy recorded his 63rd win this year, setting an NHL record for the most wins in a calendar year, regular season and playoffs. He broke the tie with Marc-Andre Fleury who recorded 62 wins in 2009 (“Andrei Vasilevskiy sets NHL record for wins in a calendar year with Lightning’s victory over Senators”, CBS Sports, Dec. 17, 2021).
It helps being the starting goaltender for one of the best teams in the NHL over the past year. Combined with a packed 2020-21 56-game schedule and winning the Stanley Cup, this record has a chance to climb even more before the year is over and will be hard to match again.
Steven Stamkos recorded his 900th career point. He joins Martin St. Louis (953) as the only two players in Tampa Bay Lightning history to record 900 career points with the franchise. Stamkos is the 10th active player to record 900 career points. He is also the first player from the 2008 NHL draft to reach 900 points. To put things into perspective of just how dominant Stamkos has been since entering the league, only seven players from the four drafts before his have reached 900 points.
Hughes and Boudreau Setting Marks for Canucks Organization
Vancouver Canucks’ Quinn Hughes is the first player in franchise history to record 10 or more assists in a month on five separate occasions. To put into perspective, Hughes is in his third season in the NHL so this franchise-record will just continue to grow and make it very hard to ever be matched.
Bruce Boudreau is the sixth head coach in NHL history to have a 6-0-0 record to begin his tenure with a new team. Only two coaches have had a longer win streak to start their tenure, Geoff Ward (7 in 2019-20) and Jacques Lemaire (7 in 1993-94). Boudreau has been a huge part in turning the Canucks’ season around and getting them back to what was expected of them after all the offseason moves.
Rookies Stepping In During Time of Need in Carolina
With a number of Carolina Hurricanes’ players unable to play, some rookies have made an immediate impact, helping the team stay in the win column.
Related: NHL Stat Corner: Maple Leafs, Penguins, Golden Knights, Avalanche
Jack Drury scored his first career goal. He is the 23rd player in franchise history to score in his first NHL game. He and his father, Ted Drury, are the third father-son duo to play for the franchise.
Andrew Poturalski recorded his first career point. He is the second-oldest player in team history at the time of his first NHL point. (27 years, 336 days). Only Derek Ryan (29 years old) was older.
Is Forsberg the Best Predators Forward of All-Time?
Filip Forsberg scored the most goals through a players’ first 20 games of a season in franchise history with 13. He also has the most three-point games in franchise history with 24, breaking a tie with Martin Erat.
The Nashville Predators posted a seven-game win streak for the fourth time in franchise history. They also had win streaks of at least seven games in 2018 (10-0-0), 2005 (8-0-0), and 2009 (7-0-0). After Forsberg has come back from his injury he has been on fire, playing a big part in the recent success of the team with Matt Duchene, Ryan Johansen, and Mikael Granlund all missing time.
Penguins Unstoppable on Penalty Kill
The Pittsburgh Penguins have killed off 35 consecutive penalties. They are also the least penalized team in the NHL. They are first in the league on the penalty kill by a wide margin. The Penguins are at 93 percent, while the next closest, the Hurricanes, are at 88.4 percent.
Kris Letang has recorded the seventh-most overtime assists in NHL history with 21. Only two defencemen have more overtime assists, Duncan Keith (22) and Nicklas Lidstrom (22). Letang is now just four back of the all-time leader, Ryan Getzlaf. With more years left in his career, Letang has a good chance of climbing this list all the way to the top.
Stats & Milestones From Around the NHL
- Alex Ovechkin recorded the second-most points in NHL history in the first 30 games of a season at age 36 or older with 47. Only Mario Lemieux (55) recorded more in 2002-03.
- Alex Pietrangelo is the only player in Vegas Golden Knights’ history to record a road point streak of nine-plus games. He also has the sixth-longest road point streak by a defenceman since 1999-2000.
- Charlie Lindgren is the first goalie in St. Louis Blues franchise history to win his first five games with the franchise. He broke a tie with former Blues’ goalie Ryan Miller, who started his time in St. Louis 4-0-0 in 2014.
- Anze Kopitar tied Marcel Dionne for the second-most game-winning goals in Los Angeles Kings’ history with 59.
- Hampus Lindholm is third in Anaheim Ducks franchise history in goals among defencemen with 57. He trails only Cam Fowler (76) and Scott Niedermayer (60).
- San Jose Sharks’ Timo Meier scored his 100th career goal. He is the sixth-fastest player to record 100 career goals with the Sharks (342 games played). Only Jonathan Cheechoo (246 GP), Logan Couture (271 GP), Owen Nolan (304 GP), Joe Thornton (320 GP), and Jeff Friesen (321 GP) needed less games.
- Chris Kreider tied Don Maloney for 12th on the all-time New York Rangers franchise goals list with 195.
- Jesse Puljujarvi scored the fastest two goals by one player (0:46) for the Edmonton Oilers since 2013.
- Casey Fitzgerald recorded his first career point and fight in his first game. He was one goal away from becoming the second player in NHL history to record a Gordie Howe hat trick in his NHL debut.
- Florida Panthers’ Matt Kiersted scored his first career goal.
- Philadelphia Flyers’ Jackson Cates scored his first career goal.
- Dallas Stars’ John Klingberg played his 500th career game.
- Alexandar Georgiev started the 100th game of his career.
- Ivan Barbashev played his 300th career game.
- Greg McKegg played his 200th career game.
Ovechkin continues to be a marvel this late in his career, giving lots of hope that he will be able to become the all-time leading goal-scorer in the NHL. Pietrangelo and Lindgren are setting franchise marks while Kopitar, Fowler, and Kreider are climbing their respective franchise leaderboards. More firsts and games played milestones in another NHL Stat Corner. Check back in a couple of days for the next installment to get your fix.