What’s Going On in the NHL?

(As of December 1)

By Anna Mueller

We are only two months into the 2018-19 NHL season, but so much has happened! From beautiful plays to unbelievable saves to new player achievements, we have a lot to recap this month. Some of the most notable points are as follows:

As of a game on November 27th against the San Jose Sharks, the Buffalo Sabres have won ten consecutive games. Out of these ten wins, nine of them have been won with only a one-goal lead, and seven of them have been past-regulation games.(1)

In a game against the New York Islanders, Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals scored the 625th goal of his career. It was an empty net goal that secured the Capitals a victory in that game. This was yet another NHL milestone for the extremely talented Ovechkin, and this accomplishment has him tied with Jarome Iginla and Joe Sakic for 15th place on the all-star list in terms of goals scored.(2) Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid also reached a milestone when he scored his 100th career goal in a game against the San Jose Sharks on November 20th.

In a game against the St. Louis Blues, Patrik Laine of the Winnipeg Jets scored five goals in a single game. He was the first player in almost eight years to accomplish this. As a result, he moved to the top of the most goals list. This will definitely be a memorable night for him.(3)

Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury of the Vegas Golden Knights obtained his second consecutive shutout, making 33 saves on November 24th against the San Jose Sharks. This was his fifth shutout since the beginning of the season.

As of November 25th, the Buffalo Sabres ranked number one in the league, which is significant because they have not made the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2011. The rankings will likely change before the season ends, but the Sabres have proved that they are capable of more than people may expect based on their past records.(4)

Also worth noting, on the day after Thanksgiving, 13 of the 15 games resulted in the home team’s victory. Some of these teams include the Philadelphia Flyers (4-0 against the New York Rangers), the Washington Capitals (3-1 against the Detroit Red Wings), the Buffalo Sabres (3-2 against the Montreal Canadiens), the Boston Bruins (2-1 against the Pittsburgh Penguins). Also notable, out of these 13 teams, the winners were all American teams, whereas all seven Canadian teams lost.

To get an idea of how each team has played during the month of November, 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.

  1. Tampa Bay Lightning – 39/27/19-7-1
  2. Toronto Maple Leafs – 38/27/19-8-0
  3. Nashville Predators – 37/27/18-8-1
  4. Buffalo Sabres – 37/27/17-7-3
  5. Colorado Avalanche – 35/26/15-6-5
  6. Washington Capitals – 33/25/15-7-3
  7. Winnipeg Jets – 32/25/15-8-2
  8. Calgary Flames – 32/26/15-9-2
  9. Columbus Blue Jackets – 32/26/15-9-2
  10. Boston Bruins – 32/26/14-8-4
  11. Dallas Stars – 31/27/14-10-3
  12. Anaheim Ducks – 31/28/13-10-5
  13. Minnesota Wild – 30/26/14-10-2
  14. New York Islanders – 29/25/13-9-3
  15. Montreal Canadiens – 29/26/12-9-5
  16. Vegas Golden Knights – 29/27/14-12-1
  17. San Jose Sharks – 29/27/12-10-5
  18. Carolina Hurricanes – 28/25/12-9-4
  19. New York Rangers – 28/27/13-12-2
  20. Detroit Red Wings – 27/26/12-11-3
  21. Ottawa Senators – 27/27/12-12-3
  22. Edmonton Oilers – 26/25/12-11-2
  23. Arizona Coyotes – 26/25/12-11-2
  24. Pittsburgh Penguins – 25/25/10-10-5
  25. Florida Panthers – 25/25/10-10-5
  26. Vancouver Canucks – 25/29/11-15-3
  27. Philadelphia Flyers – 24/25/11-12-2
  28. New Jersey Devils – 23/25/9-11-5
  29. Chicago Blackhawks – 23/27/9-13-5
  30. St. Louis Blues – 21/25/9-13-3
  31. Los Angeles Kings – 19/26/9-16-1

This month in hockey has been as eventful as every other and will likely lead into another fun month with newly talented teams. The Tampa Bay Lightning is still one of the best teams in the league, as well as the Nashville Predators, and will likely continue playing strongly into next month.

Sources:

  1. https://www.nhl.com/news/nhl-facts–figures-november-28/c-302384546?tid=301555172
  2. https://www.nhl.com/news/alex-ovechkin-scores-goal-no-625-with-washington-facts-and-figures/c-302339198?tid=301555172
  3. https://www.nhl.com/news/facts-and-figures-patrik-laine-historic-five-goal-night/c-302289082?tid=301555172
  4. https://www.nhl.com/news/key-nhl-statistics-numbers-november-25/c-302289066?tid=301555172

 

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