After an October to remember, the #NHLStats team is delivering another look at storylines entering the quarter mark of the 2023-24 NHL regular season, which will hit Tuesday when the Panthers and Maple Leafs meet in the League’s 328th game.
* Scoring is at its highest rate in 27 years (6.3 G/GP; tied w/ 2022-23 & 2005-06), while the 62 third-period comeback wins are tied for the third most ever at this stage of a season (w/ 2018-19 & 2008-09) behind 2019-20 (67) and 2012-13 (66).
* Overall, 44% of games in 2023-24 have been comeback wins – the fourth time in six seasons at that rate or higher (the lone exceptions being 2020-21 and 2021-22). Lead changes are at the second highest per-game rate since the late 1980s (0.61; tied w/ 2019-20) behind 2012-13 (0.63).
* A scoring race featuring only two Art Ross Trophy winners among the top 15 includes six players with 30+ points (most since six in 2006-07) and two defensemen among the top five (more on that below).
* Only three of the top 40 goal scorers have won the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy and we have a three-way tie for first place entering the quarter mark for a second straight season (more on that below, too). The 35 players with 10+ goals are the second most over the past 26 years (tied w/ 2005-06) behind 2018-19 (36).
* For the second time in League history, a defenseman was the first 30-point player in the NHL as Canucks captain Quinn Hughes joined Bobby Orr (1974-75) in accomplishing that feat (hitting the mark in his 19th game). Hughes has slipped from his perch as the overall points leader but still paces defensemen with 33 points, one more than Colorado’s Cale Makar – who also hit the 30-point mark within his first 20 games and tops the entire NHL with 26 assists. Both are on pace for 120+ points.
* An NHL season has never finished with two defensemen among the top five in scoring; four have ended with multiple blueliners among the top 10 (1973-74, 1923-24, 1921-22 and 1918-19).
* Makar’s 26 assists are the most by any player entering the quarter mark of an NHL season since 2005-06 (Peter Forsberg: 30 w/ PHI). He is the third different defenseman in the modern era (since 1943-44) to be the outright League leader in assists entering the quarter mark, following Bobby Orr (4x; 1974-75, 1973-74, 1971-72, 1969-70) and Larry Robinson (1976-77).
* Nikita Kucherov tops the NHL with 36 points, tied with Forsberg (2005-06) for the second highest point total by a League leader entering the quarter mark over the past 20 seasons, behind Leon Draisaitl (20-20—40 in 2021-22).
* Kucherov, Sam Reinhart and Brock Boeser share the League lead with 15 goals apiece, one more than both Kyle Connor and two-time “Rocket” winner Auston Matthews. This is the second straight season – and sixth time in NHL history – that there has been a three-way tie in the goals race entering the quarter mark.
* Six teams are separated by two points atop the NHL standings, the fourth time in League history that has been the case entering the quarter mark – also 2021-22 (top 7: 2 points), 2011-12 (top 8: 2 points) and 1997-98 (top 6: 2 points).
* The “playoff line” in the Eastern Conference is one point, while in the Western Conference there is a tie between the lowest-ranked playoff club and the first team outside the bracket. That is consistent with every other season under the Wild Card format – the gap has never been more than two points in either conference entering the quarter mark.
* Five teams are on pace for at least a 20-point improvement vs. 2022-23 – the Canucks, Red Wings, Kings, Capitals and Rangers.
* NHL teams are playing to 95.4% capacity in 2023-24, the highest rate at this stage over the past 10 seasons.
* So far this season, 26,287,000 fans across North America have tuned in to watch NHL games, up 2% vs. 2022-23. In the U.S., audiences are up 30% from this point last year across ESPN and TNT, while in Canada, Hockey Night in Canada audiences are up 6% YOY.
* Connor Bedard, the No. 1 pick from the 2023 NHL Draft, paces NHL rookies in goals (10) and points (17), while Logan Cooley and Pavel Mintyukov – top 10 picks from 2022 – share the rookie lead in assists (11). This is the second time that a No. 1 pick has led rookies in goals and points entering the quarter mark of a season, with Bedard joining John Tavares – he paced the 2009-10 rookie class with nine goals and 19 points.
* Bedard, Leo Carlsson (No. 2) and Adam Fantilli (No. 3) all recorded a point in their NHL debut – the second set of top-three picks in League history to achieve that feat in the ensuing regular season. They have combined for 36 points so far this season, while fellow 2023 draftee Zach Benson (No. 13) has added 1-4—5, including a between-the-legs tally for his first NHL goal.
The launch of NHL.com/EDGE in the first quarter of the 2023-24 season has provided fans with new access to the game and its players:
* Nathan MacKinnon has sped ahead of the pack with a League-leading 189 speed bursts of 20+ mph – well ahead of second-place Brayden Point (134). MacKinnon (23.87 mph on Nov. 22) also has the second-fastest max speed on record this season, behind Rasmus Kupari (23.95 mph on Oct. 17).
* The top 10 for shot speed this season are all 100+ mph, with Radko Gudas pacing all players with a 101.69 mph blast Nov. 1. Gudas and Travis Sanheim are the only players with multiple 100+ mph shots recorded this season (two each).
* Rasmus Dahlin (80.30 mi) tops the NHL in skating distance this season and paces a top four comprised entirely of defensemen. MacKinnon (75.53 mi) has covered more distance than any other forward entering the second quarter.
* Through games played Sunday, Nov. 26, 11 players ranked among the top 10% in the League in both 20+ mph skating bursts and 80+ mph shot speeds. To qualify for top 10% in those categories, a player would need more than 40 bursts of 20+ mph and more than 16 shots at 80+ mph, respectively.
* The first quarter of the NHL season included memorable moments from two tentpole League events. Connor McDavid returned to the Oilers lineup to captain the club to victory in the2023 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classicand William Nylander provided a memorable closing goal to finish off a four-game set as part of the 2023 NHL Global Series – Sweden presented by Fastenal. Nylander’s trip to Sweden included his first NHL game in front of his grandmother and saw him tie McDavid for the longest season-opening point streak by any active player (17 GP).
* The 28 hat tricks are the most at this stage in 30 years (since 1993-94: 32), amounting to a total of $140,000 donated to the Hockey Fights Cancer Fund of the V Foundation so far in 2023-24.
* NHL clubs have hosted 79 cultural celebration and theme nights so far this season, with NHL.com tracking many of those initiatives in its running blog for the 2023-24 which can be found at NHL.com/community.
* William Nylander (17 GP w/ TOR) and Artemi Panarin (15 GP w/ NYR) each set franchise records for longest point streak from the start of a season – the first time in the NHL’s expansion era (since 1967-68) that multiple Original Six franchises had the same skater point streak broken in one season.
* The Kings (9-0-0 as visitors) carry a perfect road mark into the second quarter of the season – one back of the NHL record to begin a campaign and a franchise record at any point in a season. The Golden Knights (11-0-1; longest season-opening winning streak ever by reigning Stanley Cup champions, 7-0-0), Bruins (6-0-0, best start ever by Presidents’ Trophy winners) and Avalanche (6-0-0) also had strong starts to make 2023-24 the first season in NHL history with three teams starting with at least six straight wins.
* Forwards Alex Ovechkin (1,500 points, 900 total goals), John Tavares (1,000 points) and Matt Duchene (1,000 games), along with defensemen Victor Hedman (1,000 games), Brent Burns (600 assists) and Erik Karlsson (600 assists) are among the players with an Approaching Milestone early in the second quarter of 2023-24.
One storyline per week to watch for in the second quarter of the season:
