Last night, Colorado Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon reached the 100-point milestone for the first time in his career and became the seventh NHL player to achieve the milestone this season, joining the likes of Connor McDavid, Nikita Kucherov, David Pastrnak, and more, who lead the league in scoring.
With a few more players, including Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Mitchell Marner, and Erik Karlsson, on pace to achieve over 100 points, the total number of players who hit that mark will significantly eclipse last year’s eight players. The 2021-22 shortened season was an offensive feat, especially considering only McDavid reached 100 points in the shortened 2020-21 season, and only Leon Draisaitl reached the milestone in the 2019-2020 season.
It’s just one stat of many that proves that the NHL is headed in a new direction: one of high scoring. Gone are the days of superstar goalies, from Patrick Roy to Martin Brodeur, stealing games. Instead, the new league has ushered in flashy offense, high-scoring contests, and battles of the superstar forwards. Let’s dive into the new-look NHL.
The highest goal-scoring per game in over two decades
Teams are averaging 3.15 goals per game, according to Sportsnet stats, which is the highest since the 1993-1994 season. That season, eight players–including Wayne Gretzky, Brendan Shanahan, and Pavel Bure, reached the 100-point milestone.
The season before, in 1992-1993, a whopping 21 players reached the same milestone, and Alexander Mogilny and Teemu Selanne led the charge with an eye-popping 76 goals apiece, a total no player has achieved since.
Meanwhile, last year saw the total goals per game (between both clubs) reach the highest milestone in 26 years, hitting just over 6.2, according to a tweet from the NHL. This season’s totals, multiplying 3.15 by two, eclipses last season.
The graph shows a significant jump in total goals per game after the lockout, suggesting that the 2005-06 season could be seen as the turning point for a scoring-focused NHL that placed the emphasis on offense. Of course, there were some blips: in 2014-15, Jamie Benn led the league in points with 87. But, the increase has been relatively steady.
A difference in goaltending
Of course, the very nature of scoring means beating the goaltender and putting the puck in the net. As seen above, NHL teams have a combined save percentage of .899%, which is the lowest since 2005-06, when the total was the same. It’s further evidence to prove that the league shifted right after the lockout.
In 2005-06, Miikka Kiprusoff stood out among netminders, playing an insanely impressive 74 games and ending the season with a .923 save percentage. A total of four goaltenders who played over 35 games ended the season with a save percentage above .920: Kiprusoff, Henrik Lundqvist, Dominik Hasek, and Cristobal Huet.
As the season has only a few games left, only three netminders who have played over 35 games boast over a .920 save percentage: Linus Ullmark, Filip Gustavsson, and Ilya Sorokin. What’s more, not a single goaltender will play anywhere close to as many as Kiprusoff’s 74 games, with Sorokin edging the closest at 58 with four games remaining in the Islanders’ season.
The 1993-1994 season, the highest team goals per game season in recent memory, only two goalies hit that mark. Dominik Hasek and John Vanbiesbrouck both played over 50 games and achieved over .920 save percentages. Legendary goaltender Patrick Roy came close, playing 68 games and ending with a .918 save percentage.
Clearly, there’s a correlation between high scoring and low save percentages.
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Rule changes have an impact on defense
While these statistics are harder to find, it’s important to consider that so many things that were once acceptable are now banned by the NHL’s rule book. The New Jersey Devils of the 1990s and early 2000s were particularly solid defensively because Scott Stevens could use his big frame to lay massive hits and really block a forward from scoring. A lot of Stevens’ game is now banned in the league, as a ton of them would be considered head shots.
What’s more, Bryan McCabe and many other blue liners made the can opener famous, which saw defenders shove their sticks between the legs of forwards coming into the offensive zone in order to impede their scoring ability. That move, too, is no longer allowed.
This is certainly not to suggest that rules increasing player safety have been detrimental to the game, but it is certainly worth considering that defensemen have less of a carte blanche to injure forwards and stop them from scoring. Now that there are rules to protect forwards, their chances of scoring increase.
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Final thoughts
The new league, of course, allows players like Connor McDavid to thrive and put their clear offensive prowess to good use, spearheading the shift to focusing on scoring and less on defending and goaltending.
It makes for a flashier game full of insane highlight reels but makes the strong goaltenders and their crazy saves shine, as the solid netminding records seem to be few and far between. In total, it’s a much different game than many grew up watching, but it sure is exciting.
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