The NHL is boasting goal scoring numbers that we haven’t seen since Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux were roaming the ice.
The league’s scoring average of 3.11 goals per game per team is the highest since 1995-96 when the team scoring rate was 3.14. In that season, Lemieux won the scoring title with 161 points and Pittsburgh Penguins teammate Jaromir Jagr posted 149 points. Gretzky had 102 points playing for the St. Louis Blues. Eleven players had 100 or more points that season. Edmonton’s Connor McDavid is on pace for 120 points, not 161. But there are about 11 players this season with a fair chance to reach 11.
Considering that McDavid, Leon Draisait (Edmonton), Johnny Gaudreau (Calgary), Jonathan Huberdeau (Florida) already have 90 points, the minimum of 100-point scorers this season should be at least four.
Auston Matthews (Toronto), Kyle Connor (Winnipeg), Matthew Tkachuk (Calgary), Kirill Kaprizov (Minnesota), Nazem Kadri ( Colorado), JT Miller (Vancouver) and even Roman Josi (Nashville) have a shot.
Currently, 18 NHL teams are averaging three or more goals per game and the Florida Panthers are averaging four goals per game.
Scoring has been trending upward. Teams’ per-game scoring average rose to 3.01. That marked the first time teams averaged three goals per game in 12 years.
The golden age of scoring was between 1978-79 and 1992-93 when the average team scoring rate was never below 3.46 goals per game. Thanks to the help of the Gretzky-led Oilers, the NHL set the league record of teams averaging 4.06 goals per game in 1981-82.
Power plays are at the heart of this season’s increase in scoring. The average power play success rate is 20.97. That’s the highest average power play efficiency since 1988-89.
There are a variety of theories of why scoring is up, certainly rule changes have helped. But expansion has probably contributed, diluting the talent ever so slightly.
The NHL average save percentage has also fallen to .908 for the past two seasons. That’s been the lowest it has been since 2008-09. That means either defenses are giving up more dangerous scoring chances or goaltending ability is on the decline.
When you see what Igor Shesterkin is doing for the New York Rangers, or Jacob Markstrom in Calgary or Andrei Vasilevskiy in Tampa Bay, it’s hard to believe goalies are to blame.
But you can look around the NHL and also see teams looking to upgrade their tandem.
As with most changes in NHL statistics, it’s probably a variety of factors that have led to the increase in scoring. But league officials and marketing departments are pleased with the development