In this edition of the NHL Stat Corner, we’ll take a look at the Florida Panthers’ goal-scoring domination along with those players who are making it happen. Then we’ll get to some overtime superstars on the Pittsburgh Penguins, followed by Auston Matthews’ scoring tear on the road, Anthony DeAngelo and the Carolina Hurricanes’ streak on the penalty kill, and the faces of the Vancouver Canucks franchise. All this and more stats and milestones from around the NHL.
Overtime Magic From the Penguins
The Florida Panthers have won six consecutive games by two-plus goals, the longest in franchise history and just the second time it’s happened in the NHL since 1995-96. The Boston Bruins did it last season. The Panthers also scored nine goals in a game for the third time in franchise history – the other occurrences, 1997 (10 vs the Bruins) and 2021 (9 vs the Tampa Bay Lightning). They also recorded the second-most goals in consecutive days since 1986-87 with 16. Only the 1990 Montreal Canadiens scored more with 17. The Panthers are the first team to win games by six-plus goals on consecutive days since the Detroit Red Wings in 2000.
Related: NHL Stat Corner: Bruins, Rangers, Stars, Lightning, Panthers, Avalanche
MacKenzie Weegar is the third defenceman in franchise history to record three or more points in the first period of a game – after Bryan McCabe (2009) and Dmitri Kulikov (2011) – and he recorded his 100th career point. He tied the franchise record of four points by a defenceman in a game in the same game vs the Columbus Blue Jackets in a 9-2 stomping. He is also the second defenceman in franchise history to have recorded multiple four-point games, joining Bryan McCabe (“Panthers’ MacKenzie Weegar: Four-point explosion in win,” CBS Sports, Jan. 16, 2022).
Jonathan Huberdeau’s assist streak of eight games is tied for the longest in franchise history with Olli Jokinen (2005-06). The Panthers will finish the season with a positive home record for the fifth consecutive season. They have had a streak like this once before in franchise history.
Overtime Magic From the Penguins
Sidney Crosby is tied with Alex Ovechkin and Patrik Elias for the most overtime points in NHL history (37). Kris Letang is tied for the most overtime points in NHL history (29) by a defenceman with Erik Karlsson. Letang is also sixth on the Penguins’ all-time scoring list with 614 points. He passed Ron Francis. Crosby and Letang both assisted on the overtime winner vs the San Jose Sharks in their last game and have connected for a ton of overtime goals, putting them both at the very top. It helps that they play in an era that includes three-on-three overtime.
Jake Guentzel is one of five players in NHL history to have a road point streak of at least 15 games, his streak is at 16. He has done most of his damage on the road this season, which is generally more difficult to do.
Matthews Is the Best Goal-Scorer in Maple Leafs’ History
Auston Matthews is the third player in NHL history to record a road goal streak of 10 or more games. He joins Pavel Bure (11 games in 1993-94) and Steve Yzerman (11 games in 1988-89). Matthews is the first player in franchise history with six consecutive 25-goal seasons to begin his career. In just his sixth season in the league, he is already the best goal-scorer to have played for the Toronto Maple Leafs. If he stays there for his career, there’s no goal record he won’t surpass. He is only 24 years old.
In the Maple Leafs’ win vs the St. Louis Blues, Timothy Liljegren scored his first career goal in his 34th NHL game.
Hurricanes’ Penalty Kill is Unstoppable
Tony DeAngelo required the sixth-fewest games since 1996-97 to record 25 points with a franchise as a defenceman, doing so in 28 games. The decision to take a chance on him for one year at $1 million was smart. The Hurricanes have DeAngelo for one year instead of Dougie Hamilton for seven years at $9 million to do the same work. Martin Necas recorded his 100th career point in the win over the Canucks.
The Hurricanes have recorded their third-longest streak without allowing a power-play goal (35 penalties killed). The franchise record is 36, accomplished twice. They killed off all five of the Canucks’ power-play opportunities in their 4-1 win on Saturday.
Hughes & Demko Leading Canucks Into New Era
Quinn Hughes required the third-fewest games in franchise history to reach 30 points in a season as a defenceman (37 games). Only Paul Reinhart (28 games in 1989-90) and Jeff Brown (31 games in 1994-95) did so faster. Hughes is having a much better season defensively, and he is steadily increasing his offensive production as his ice time has increased.
Thatcher Demko recorded his 50th career win. He is the fourth-fastest player in franchise history to record 50 wins (103 games), behind only Roberto Luongo (81 games), Cory Schneider (88 games), and Dan Cloutier (102 games). Demko has always shown his ability to be a top goaltender, but since the Canucks hired new head coach Bruce Boudreau, Demko’s numbers have improved also thanks to the team playing much better in front of him.
Player Stats & Milestones From Around the NHL
- Ovechkin has recorded the fourth-most 25-plus goal seasons in NHL history (16). Only Gordie Howe (20), Jaromir Jagr (18), and Mike Gartner (17) have more.
- Marc-Andre Fleury recorded his 70th career shutout in the game against the Anaheim Ducks. He is the 14th goaltender in NHL history to record at least 70 career shutouts, and has the most among active goalies, followed by Jonathan Quick with 56.
- Dallas Stars’ head coach Rick Bowness is the third coach in NHL history to coach in five different decades. He joins Scotty Bowman and Pat Quinn.
- Darcy Kuemper recorded his 21st career shutout and first with the Colorado Avalanche vs the Arizona Coyotes in the second game of the home and home series.
- Josh Norris has recorded the second-most goals by a player in their first 100 games (32) in Ottawa Senators history. He has only played 89 career games. Alexei Yashin is first with 39 goals in his first 100 career games.
- Vitek Vanecek recorded his third career shutout in the Washinton Capitals’ win over the New York Islanders.
- Philadelphia Flyers’ Cam York scored his first career goal.
- Nazem Kadri played his 700th career game on Jan. 15.
- Alex Galchenyuk played his 600th career game on Jan. 15 as well.
Ovechkin is having a monster season, and only once in his 17-year career has he not reached 25 goals; that was last season with 24 goals in 45 games. Fleury continues to rise in the all-time goaltender leaderboards late in his career and is ahead of the next goalie by a wide margin, while Bowness joins elite company behind the bench. Come back every few days for all the latest stats and milestones from your favourite teams and players on the NHL Stat Corner.
