On the latest edition of NHL Stats News, Auston Matthews is the first 50-goal scorer, the Florida Panthers stay dominant, and the Colorado Avalanche are led by their stars at home. Then we go to the Nashville Predators where their captain had an incredible month, two members of the Tampa Bay Lightning set records, and much more stats and milestones from around the NHL.
Matthews Hits 50 Goals Very Quickly
Matthews is the third player in the past 10 years to reach the 50-goal mark, joining Alex Ovechkin and Leon Draisaitl. Matthews is also the 93rd player in NHL history to reach 50 goals in a season. He is the fourth player in franchise history to do so after Dave Andreychuk, Gary Leeman, and Rick Vaive.
Matthews is the first player to reach 50 goals in a season in 62 games or fewer since 1995-96. Four players did so that year – Mario Lemieux (50 GP), Jaromir Jagr (59 GP), Alexander Mogilny (60 GP), and Peter Bondra (62 GP). Matthews is the 10th American-born player in NHL history to reach the 50-goal mark in a season. He is the first since John Leclair (1997-98). Matthews tied Kevin Stevens for the fastest American-born player in history to reach 50 goals in a season.
Mitch Marner has recorded the third-most 50-assist seasons in franchise history (three), trailing Darryl Sittler (six) and Borje Salming (five). Ilya Mikheyev scored his fourth shorthanded goal of the season, tied for the NHL lead and the first Maple Leafs player to score that many since Mats Sundin (six in 1995-96). Mark Giordano is the oldest defenceman (38 years, 179 days) to score a goal for the Toronto Maple Leafs since Tim Horton in 1970.
Panthers Offence Stays On Top
The Panthers set a franchise record with their 28th home win of the season. The Panthers have six 20-goal scorers this season, trailing only seven teams in the past 25 years who have had more in a single season. Those teams are the Detroit Red Wings (eight in 2005-06), New Jersey Devils (2000-01), San Jose Sharks (2010-11), Philadelphia Flyers (2013-14), Toronto Maple Leafs (2018-19), and Washington Capitals (2008-09 and 2018-19) all had seven.
Related: NHL Stats News: Panthers, Rangers, Penguins, Maple Leafs, Canadiens
Jonathan Huberdeau recorded his 73rd assist of the season, an NHL record by a left-winger. Joe Juneau held the previous record with 70 in a season (1992-93). He also recorded his 94th point of the season, tied for second in franchise history with Pavel Bure. Aleksander Barkov holds the franchise record with 96 points in 2018-19.
Joe Thornton skated in his 1000th win (regular season and playoffs) and has the sixth-most wins in NHL history trailing Nicklas Lidstrom (1090), Chris Chelios (1043), Patrick Marleau (1029), Mark Messier (1015), and Scott Stevens (1007).
Avalanche Stars Lead Team to Most Wins at Home
The Avalanche have recorded the most wins at home in a season in franchise history (28), tied with the 28 they had in the 2000-01 and 2017-18 seasons. The Avalanche have recorded a nine-game streak of games scoring at least one power-play goal, their longest since 2003.
Nazem Kadri has the fourth-most multi-point games in the NHL this season (26), trailing Connor McDavid (37), Matthews (30), and Draisaitl (28). Mikko Rantanen recorded his third 80-point season, tied with Nathan MacKinnon for the fifth-most in franchise history.
Roman Josi With Incredible Month
Roman Josi recorded the third-most points in a calendar month by a defenceman in NHL history (28). Only Bobby Orr (31 in 1971) and Paul Coffey (29 in 1985) have recorded more. Josi is the first defenceman in the NHL to be named the first star of the month since John Carlson in October 2019 and the first Predators’ player since Pekka Rinne in November 2016.
Ryan Johansen has a 14-game active point streak against the Buffalo Sabres which is the second-longest active point streak against one opponent in the NHL behind Draisaitl (15 consecutive games against the Vancouver Canucks).
Vasilevskiy and Cooper Dominant Since the Beginning
John Cooper is the eighth active coach to reach 700 career games. His 426 wins are the most among any coach in NHL history through their first 700 games. Bruce Boudreau held the record before Cooper with 419 wins.
Andrei Vasilevskiy has the third-longest win streak to start his career against one opponent in NHL history (13 vs. Chicago Blackhawks). Only Antero Niittymaki (17 vs. Atlanta Thrashers) and Ken Dryden (14 vs. Vancouver Canucks).
Player & Team Stats & Milestones From Around the NHL
Team
- The Edmonton Oilers lead the NHL with at least one power-play goal in 23 home games this season. The Oilers tied their franchise record for longest home win streak (nine games).
- The New York Islanders played the most games in a calendar month in franchise history in March (17).
- The Anaheim Ducks recorded the second-longest losing streak in franchise history (11 GP) to a 12-game losing streak in 2018-19.
Player
- Semyon Varlamov is the second goaltender in NHL history to record four consecutive shutouts on the road against one opponent (New York Rangers). He joins Alec Connell as the only other goaltenders to do so (vs. the New York Americans in 1926).
- Jonathan Toews played his 1000th career game. He is the 366th player in NHL history to reach that mark and eighth in franchise history (from “Blackhawks’ Jonathan Toews plays in 1,000th game”, The Athletic, 3/3122).
- Kirill Kaprizov recorded his 85th point of the season breaking the franchise record for most points in a season previously held by Marian Gaborik (83). Kaprizov also set a franchise record for the most goals in a calendar month with 14. His 39 goals on the season also ties him in third in franchise history, trailing only Gaborik (2007-08) and Eric Staal (2017-18) who each scored 42 goals.
- Kris Letang recorded his 500th career point. He is the sixth active defenceman to reach that mark and 33rd in NHL history. Among active defencemen, only Erik Karlsson (820 GP) reached 500 assists faster than Letang (928 GP).
- Evgeni Malkin scored the 13th overtime goal of his career, second-most in franchise history behind Sidney Crosby (18). Malkin also tied Jagr for the most game-winning goals in franchise history (78).
- Sebastian Aho has scored the third-most goals in Carolina Hurricanes history (176), tied with Jeff O’Neill and trailing only Staal (322) and Jeff Skinner (204).
- Tage Thompson is the third Arizona-born player in NHL history to score 30-plus goals in a season joining Matthew Tkachuk (two times) and Sean Couturier (two times).
- Mathew Barzal recorded his 300th career point.
- Andrei Svechnikov recorded his 200th career point.
- Marc McLaughlin is the fifth Massachusetts-born player to score a goal in his NHL debut with the Boston Bruins. The Bruins scored six goals in a period for the 24th time in franchise history and first since 1983.
- Mads Sogaard recorded his first career win in his NHL debut for the Ottawa Senators.
The Oilers continue to win at home while the Ducks have fallen on very hard times. Kaprizov is quickly becoming the most talented player to play for the Wild in their franchise’s history while Malkin climbs the Penguins’ franchise list. Stay up to date with the latest stats and milestones from around the NHL with NHL Stats News coming to you every two days.
Stats via NHL Public Relations, StatsCentre, Sportsnet Stats.