NHL Numbers: On the finish of the day, it is all about targets

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Every part you must know in regards to the NHL’s purpose leaders this season, from David Pastrnak to the rookie scoring race to the Avs’ deadly red-light assault.Boston’s David Pastrnak scores in opposition to St. Louis.|Getty ImagesIt’s like George Michael sang within the ’80s: Targets are pure / targets are good / not all people scores / however all people ought to. With that in thoughts, let’s take our lead from the Wham! lead singer and have a look at the NHL’s varied purpose leaders this season:
26 goalsDavid Pastrnak was scoring at such a scorching tempo that he sparked 50-in-50 hypothesis earlier than cooling off with a one-goal-in-six-game stretch coming into the weekend. Nonetheless, the Bruins sniper is the NHL’s main goal-scorer with 26 in 33 video games. Buffalo’s red-hot Jack Eichel, with 22 targets – together with 14 throughout his present 15-game level streak – is Pastrnak’s closest pursuer, adopted by perennial favourite Alex Ovechkin (21), the Oilers’ duo of Leon Draisaitl (20) and Connor McDavid (20) and Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon (20). Pastrnak additionally leads the NHL with 12 power-play targets, he’s tied for first with 5 game-winners, he’s opened the scoring in a recreation extra typically than anybody else (9 instances) and, as you certainly would’ve guessed, he leads the league in targets per recreation (zero.79). Do the maths and that’s a 65-goal tempo, which might obliterate his profession excessive of 38 set in 66 video games final season.
17 even-strength goalsNobody’s hotter than Eichel proper now, and it’s helped the Sabres star rating extra even-strength targets than anybody else. Draisaitl, Boston’s Brad Marchand and Washington’s Jakub Vrana are tied for second with 15 even-strength targets.
13 rookie goalsThe Sabres’ second-best scorer this season isn’t Jeff Skinner or Sam Reinhart, it’s Victor Olofsson, the 24-year-old left winger whose 13 targets in 33 video games are sufficient to guide all NHL rookies. By fairly a wholesome margin, in truth: Chicago winger Dominik Kubalik and Colorado defenseman Cale Makar are tied for second with eight targets apiece. Olofsson’s complete contains seven power-play tallies, nicely forward of second-place Jack Hughes, who counts three PP targets amongst his 4 scores in 27 video games. It’s fascinating to notice, nonetheless, that Olofsson isn’t the highest-scoring seventh-round choose from the 2014 NHL draft – that honor belongs to Anaheim’s Ondrej Kase, who has 39 profession targets in comparison with 15 for Olofsson (together with two final season).
12 defenseman goalsWashington’s John Carlson is the runaway chief in factors by defensemen, however his place atop the ‘D’ goal-scoring chart is far more tenuous. Carlson paces all blueliners with 12 targets, with Carolina’s Dougie Hamilton (11) and Montreal’s Shea Weber (10) in shut pursuit.
10 goalsPierre-Luc Dubois leads Columbus with 10 targets in 31 video games, the bottom team-leading complete within the league. 5 different groups are led by a participant with 11 targets: Anaheim (Jacob Silfverberg), Dallas (Roope Hintz), Los Angeles (Anze Kopitar), New Jersey (Kyle Palmieri) and Philadelphia (Travis Konecny, Oskar Lindblom). In case you’re questioning, Artemi Panarin leads the Rangers with 18 targets, which is tied for eighth within the league.
6.02 targets per gameThrough 500 video games of the NHL’s 1,271-game schedule – about 40 p.c – the league is averaging 6.02 targets per recreation, precisely the identical as final season. The 2018-19 marketing campaign was the primary time the NHL crested six targets per recreation because the post-lockout 2005-06 season (6.16 targets per recreation). Previous to that, the final time the NHL noticed six-plus targets per recreation was 1995-96 (6.28). Maintain the pink mild burning shiny.
5 game-winning goalsAs talked about, Pastrnak is tied for the NHL lead with 5 game-winners. However we didn’t point out who he’s tied with: Carlson and Draisaitl, in addition to L.A.’s Jeff Carter, Anaheim’s Ryan Getzlaf and St. Louis’ David Perron. The veterans coming by means of within the clutch. Perron’s 5 game-winners embody three additional time tallies, tied with the Islanders’ Brock Nelson for probably the most within the league.
three.66 targets per gameThe Avalanche offense is pumping in three.66 targets per recreation, probably the most within the league. That’s spectacular, and much more so when you think about that first-liners Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog solely not too long ago returned to motion after lacking 15 video games apiece. MacKinnon (20 targets) has been capably assisted by Avs newcomers Joonas Donskoi (13), Andre Burakovsky (12), Nazem Kadri (10) and Makar (eight). Tampa Bay (three.57) and Washington (three.55) are preserving it near Colorado, whereas last-place Detroit (2.18) shouldn’t be.
three shorthanded goalsShorthanded targets: they don’t occur typically, however they’re oh-so-sweet after they do. Carolina’s Sebastian Aho and Ottawa’s shocking Jean-Gabriel Pageau are tied for the league lead in shorties with three apiece. Whereas it’s not shocking to witness Pageau’s shorthanded acumen – he led the NHL with seven shorthanded targets in 2015-16 – it’s considerably surprising to see his title among the many league’s purpose leaders, as he sits 12th total with 16 in 32 video games. It’s protected to say his profession excessive of 19 is in jeopardy. Aho, in the meantime, is tied for eighth in targets with 18, however just a few of them have come the straightforward method – he leads the NHL with 4 empty-netters.
Tags: nhlConnect: In regards to the AuthorSam McCaigCopy editor Sam McCaig rejoined The Hockey Information in 2017 after beforehand working at THN from 1999 to 2010. His profession excessive for targets in a season is one.