In the latest edition of NHL Stats News, the Pittsburgh Penguins put on a show vs the Detroit Red Wings, the New York Rangers have reached new heights, and the Toronto Maple Leafs’ stars are leading the team during an important final stretch. We will also look at Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers, who continue to dominate at home, a shocking comeback win by the Buffalo Sabres, and many more stats and milestones.
Malkin’s Hat Trick Leads Penguins to Dominant Win
Evgeni Malkin recorded the 13th hat trick of his career in an 11-2 blowout win over the Red Wings on Sunday. He has the second-most hat tricks in franchise history, trailing only Mario Lemieux (40). Malkin has also scored the third-most goals in franchise history (439) and has recorded the most assists by a Russian-born player in NHL history (696), tied with Sergei Fedorov.
The Penguins scored 11 goals in a game for the first time since 1993 (11-5 vs Philadelphia Flyers), and it’s been over 19 years since any NHL team scored 11 goals in a game. It was the third-most goals in a game in franchise history, having scored 12 in a game twice (1991 and 1975). The Penguins have recorded the most 40-win seasons since 2006-07 (14). The next closest team is the San Jose Sharks (12).
Kris Letang has recorded the fifth-most points in franchise history (637), trailing Lemieux (1723), Sidney Crosby (1392), Malkin (1133), and Jaromir Jagr (1079). Jeff Carter scored his 19th career shorthanded goal, ranked fourth among active players.
Rangers Stars Reach New Heights
The Rangers have four 60-point players this season for the first time since the 2006-07 season. They join the Colorado Avalanche as the only two teams to do so this season. Artemi Panarin is tied for the fourth-most 75-plus point seasons in his first seven seasons (five) by a left-winger in NHL history, trailing Luc Robitaille (seven), Brian Propp (six), and Alex Ovechkin (six).
Related: NHL Stats News: Flames, Rangers, Avalanche, Capitals, Wild, Blackhawks
Alexis Lafrenière is the third player in franchise history under 21 years old to record a point streak of six games, joining Derek Stepan and Pavel Buchnevich. K’Andre Miller is the second-youngest defenceman in franchise history to score an overtime goal in the regular season behind Brian Leetch. Frank Vatrano scored two goals in 15 seconds, the fastest two goals by one Rangers player since Jaromir Jagr (2005, 0:15).
Marner & Matthews Lead Maple Leafs Into Bright Future
Mitch Marner is the fastest player in franchise history to record 300 career assists (411 GP), breaking the record held by Borje Salming (469 GP) and the fastest by a forward, Darryl Sittler (531 GP). Marner is also the third-fastest winger to reach 300 assists, trailing Jari Kurri (387 GP) and Dave Taylor (409 GP). Marner is the 15th player in franchise history to record 300 assists.
Auston Matthews set a career-high with 48 goals, the most by a Maple Leafs player since Dave Andreychuk (53 in 1993-94). Matthews has scored the fourth-most points in a player’s first 60 games of a season since 1995 (48), trailing Lemieux (57 in 1995-96), Jagr (52 in 1995-96), and Alexander Mogilny (1995-96).
Morgan Rielly has recorded the seventh-most three-plus-point games among defencemen in franchise history (13). The Maple Leafs scored in the opening minute of the game on back-to-back days for the second time in franchise history.
McDavid Streaks & Oilers Dominate at Home
McDavid is the first player this season to record multiple 10-plus-point streaks. He also has the fifth-most 10-plus game point streaks at age 25 or younger in NHL history (seven). McDavid has recorded the fifth-most points at home in franchise history (354). McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are the third set of teammates to each record 95-plus points in the team’s first 67 games since 1995, joining Lemieux (134), Jagr (130), Ron Francis (101) in 1995-96 and Joe Sakic (98) and Peter Forsberg (97) in 1995-96. McDavid and Draisaitl also did so in 2019-20.
The Oilers have recorded the fifth-longest home win streak in franchise history (seven games), and the fourth-most games scoring five-plus goals in a season since 1998 (26), trailing the Tampa Bay Lightning (36 in 2018-19), Ottawa Senators (28 in 2005-06), and Maple Leafs (28 in 2018-19).
Sabres’ Incredible Comeback Win
The Sabres came back from a four-goal deficit and won for the fourth time in franchise history. The other times were in 1989, 1983, and 1976. They are the second team to do so this season, joining the Carolina Hurricanes. Tage Thompson scored the seventh-latest go-ahead goal in franchise history (59:48) in their win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday.
The Sabres reached overtime in five straight games for the first time since 2010. Rasmus Dahlin is the fifth-fastest defenceman in franchise history to record 150 points (262 GP).
Player & Team Stats & Milestones From Around the NHL
Team
- The Red Wings are the first team to allow 10-plus goals in a game multiple times in a season since the Lightning (1998-99). It is the first time since 1985-86 (five times) that the Red Wings have done so. It is also the first time they’ve allowed 11-plus goals in a game since 1988. They are the first team to allow 11 goals in a game since the Florida Panthers lost to the Washington Capitals 12-2 (2003).
- The Minnesota Wild are the fourth team in NHL history to have scored at least seven overtime goals in a season without allowing one, joining the Vegas Golden Knights (nine in 2020-21), New Jersey Devils (seven in 1995-96), and Ottawa Senators (seven in 1928-29). The Wild have recorded three win streaks of at least six games for the first time in franchise history. They are also the only team to do so this season.
- The Blackhawks lost back-to-back games after holding a three-goal lead for the first time in franchise history.
Player
- Phil Kessel played his 965th consecutive game, moving into second in NHL history behind Keith Yandle (988).
- Roman Josi is the fifth defenceman in NHL history to reach 80 points in a season in 64 games or less, joining Paul Coffey (six times), Bobby Orr (six), Denis Potvin (two), and Al MacInnis (one). Josi also required the sixth-fewest games by a defenceman since 1985 to reach 80 points in a season. He is the second player in franchise history to record at least 80 points in a season, joining Paul Kariya (85 in 2005-06) (from “NHL Stunning Numbers: The crazy seasons for Cale Makar and Roman Josi,” NBC Sports, 3/26/22).
- Victor Hedman has recorded the fourth-most points by a Swedish-born defenceman in NHL history (581), trailing Nicklas Lidstrom (1142), Salming (787), and Erik Karlsson (656).
- Jonathan Toews is the fifth player in franchise history to score 400 combined goals, joining Bobby Hull (666), Stan Mikita (600), Patrick Kane (477), and Steve Larmer (451).
- Kane has recorded the fifth-most points in a calendar month in franchise history (26) and most since Denis Savard (28 in 1987).
- David Perron is the third player in franchise history to score 12 goals in a calendar month, joining Brett Hull (14 times) and Scott Young (once).
- Vladimir Tarasenko recorded his 500th career point. He is the fifth player in franchise history to do so, joining Bernie Federko (1073), Brett Hull (936), Brian Sutter (636), and Garry Unger (575).
- Sebastian Aho scored his 174th career goal, tying Rod Brind-Amour for 10th in franchise history. Andrei Svechnikov has recorded the eighth-most points by a player in his first four seasons in franchise history (198).
- Todd McLellan coached his 1000th game.
- Mark Scheifele has scored the second-most game-winning goals in franchise history (34), trailing only Ilya Kovalchuk (40).
- Brock Nelson is the first New York Islanders player to score 12 goals in a calendar month since Ziggy Palffy (1996).
- Cole Caufield has recorded the fifth-most points in a calendar month by a rookie in Montreal Canadiens history (15).
- Alex Wennberg scored the fastest goal to start a game in Seattle Kraken history (0:14) and the sixth-fastest this season.
A couple of Swedish-born veteran defenders are leading the way on the backend, while records for a calendar month are being reached as we near the end of March. There were also a couple of collapses by the Red Wings and Blackhawks. Stay up to date with all the latest stats and milestones from around the NHL with NHL Stats News coming to you every couple of days.
Stats via NHL Public Relations, StatsCentre, Sportsnet Stats.
Rob Couch is a THW freelance writer covering mainly the Edmonton Oilers and Philadelphia Flyers. He covers everything you need to know about fantasy hockey. He will also keep you up to date with NHL Stats News, trade talks, and daily betting guides.
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