By Anna Mueller
This article will take a look at the current happenings in the NHL, as of November 1. During the first month of the 2018-2019 NHL season, there were many impressive goals and plays. Below are some of the highlights and statistics from October and a key to some of the common terms in hockey:
Assists: an assist is awarded to the player/players (up to two) who touched the puck prior to a goal.
Points: a point is awarded to a player who makes an assist or a goal.
According to an article titled “Facts and Figures: Offenses thrived in October” written for NHL.com, during the first month of the season, a total of 1,102 goals were scored. One of the most accomplished scorers is Colorado Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen with a total of 21 points acquired by five goals and 16 assists.
Out of the 178 games played during the month of October, 42 went into overtime. During a game against the New Jersey Devils on October 30, Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brayden Point received five points. Similarly, during a game against the Ottawa Senators on October 10, Philadelphia Flyers forward Jakub Voracek also received five points from that game alone. So far they are the only two players to have accomplished this.
At this point during the season, the team that has scored the most goals in a single game is the Pittsburgh Penguins when they beat the Calgary Flames 9-1 on October 25. Of the five eight-goal games (games in which one team scored a total of eight goals) this month, the Tampa Bay Lightning were responsible for two, including their 8-2 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on October 13 and their 8-3 win against the New Jersey Devils on October 30.
Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews, who was placed on injured reserve for a minimum of four weeks as a result of a shoulder injury acquired during a game against the Winnipeg Jets, currently leads all players with an NHL career average of 1.31 points per game. In just 32 games, he has 42 points from scoring 25 goals and making 17 assists. He is followed by Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby at 1.27 points per game, then by Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid at 1.26 points per game.
Without Auston Matthews, the Toronto Maple Leafs must now ensure that their team is not solely reliant on him. Unfortunately, they lost their first game without Matthews on October 29 to the Calgary Flames. It was not a lopsided game until the third period, when the Calgary Flames were able to score three goals and the Toronto Maple Leafs only one.
Vancouver Canucks center Elias Pettersson was named the NHL’s “Rookie of the Month” for October. He led all rookies with seven goals and ten points in eight games.
Notably, the Calgary Flames have significantly increased their ability to come back in games, with a total of 28 third-period goals so far. They demonstrated this ability in a game on November 1 against the Colorado Avalanche, where at the end of the second period, they were down 4-1 but were able to score five goals in the third period alone to hold a 6-5 victory.
To get an idea of how each team has been playing since the beginning of the season (October 3), the league rankings can be studied. Listed below are the teams in order of most to least accomplished, noting the number of points, the number of games played, and the number of games won, lost, and lost in overtime, respectively.
- Nashville Predators – 20/13/10-3-0
- Tampa Bay Lightning – 17/12/8-3-1
- Winnipeg Jets – 17/14/8-5-1
- Calgary Flames – 17/14/8-5-1
- Boston Bruins – 16/12/7-3-2
- Minnesota Wild – 16/12/7-3-2
- Montréal Canadiens – 16/12/7-3-2
- Toronto Maple Leafs – 16/13/8-5-0
- Colorado Avalanche – 16/13/7-4-2
- Vancouver Canucks – 16/14/8-6-0
- Pittsburgh Penguins – 15/11/6-2-3
- Edmonton Oilers – 15/12/7-4-1
- New York Islanders – 15/12/7-4-1
- San Jose Sharks – 15/13/6-4-3
- Chicago Blackhawks – 15/14/6-5-3
- Dallas Stars – 14/12/7-5-0
- Columbus Blue Jackets – 14/12/7-5-0
- Buffalo Sabres – 14/13/6-5-2
- Carolina Hurricanes – 13/12/6-5-1
- Anaheim Ducks – 13/14/5-6-3
- Arizona Coyotes – 12/11/6-5-0
- Washington Capitals – 12/11/5-4-2
- Ottawa Senators – 12/12/5-5-2
- Philadelphia Flyers – 12/13/6-7-0
- New Jersey Devils – 11/10/5-4-1
- St. Louis Blues – 11/11/4-4-3
- Vegas Golden Knights – 11/13/5-7-1
- New York Rangers – 11/13/5-7-1
- Detroit Red Wings – 10/13/4-7-2
- Florida Panthers – 9/11/3-5-3
- Los Angeles Kings – 7/12/3-8-1
The 2018-2019 season is looking to be quite interesting, full of talented players and teamwork. While it is definitely too soon to come to any conclusions about the Stanley Cup playoffs at this time, we can still take a look at some of the highlights from this first month to see how teams are starting off. Here’s to an exciting NHL season!