It's been a season to remember for rookie scorers -- and it's not over yet.
Montreal's Chris Higgins reached the 20-goal mark in the Canadiens' 5-3 victory over Boston Tuesday, giving the NHL eight rookies with 20 or more goals through Wednesday's games. That may not sound like a lot, but it's twice as many as 2003-04, when only four first-year players cracked the 20-goal mark, and only Trent Hunter of the New York Islanders and Michael Ryder of the Canadiens had as many as 25. Three rookies, Washington's Alexander Ovechkin (48), Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby (35) and Colorado's Marek Svatos (32 in 61 games before a season-ending injury), have already broken the 30-goal mark this season.
There haven't been this many first-year players to hit the 20-goal mark since 1992-93, when Teemu Selanne's 76 goals led a group of 10 rookies who had 20 or more -- a mark that this season's could surpass; three players entered the weekend with 17 or more goals.
There haven't been this many 30-goal rookies since 1993-94, when four players broke the 30-goal mark. The last rookie to get as many as 30 goals was Chicago's Eric Daze, who had exactly 30 in 1995-96.
Ovechkin broke a rookie record on Wednesday night with his 388th shot on goal, one more than Selanne had 13 years earlier. He's two goals away from becoming only the second rookie in NHL history to have 50 goals and 50 assists in a season -- Selanne had 76 goals and 56 assists in his first season -- and only the fourth ever to hit the 50-goal mark.
Hard-working reserve -- The Washington Capitals don't give backup goaltender Brent Johnson a lot of chances to play, but he's been getting plenty of work when he does see the ice.
Johnson has seen 209 shots in his last five starts -- an average of 41.8 per game that was actually lowered when he faced only 33 against Carolina in Wednesday night's 4-3 shootout loss. He's done the job for the Caps, allowing only 12 goals on those 209 shots, a .943 save percentage. His best showings were a 46-save, 1-0 victory in Ottawa on April 1 and a 49-save gem in a 5-1 win at Carolina on March 29.
Johnson saw 40 or more shots in four of those five starts. In comparison, Dallas' Marty Turco has played 65 games this season and faced 40 or more shots only three times, with a high of 41.
Be-Deviled -- The New Jersey Devils are another team that's historically been good defensively because they limit their opponents' shots on goal. But this season has been different. The Devils allowed a league-low 23.6 shots on goal in 2002-03 and were second in 2001-02 (23.2) and 2003-04 (24.2) -- and finished in the top three in goals-against in all three seasons. But in 2005-06, they've dropped to ninth in shots allowed at 29.0 per game -- and not coincidentally, they've fallen to eighth in goals allowed ... and into sixth place in the Eastern Conference standings.
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The Stars' stingy defense has held true over the past three seasons, limiting opponents to no more that 25 shots on goal on average. |
Shooting Stars -- Want to beat the Dallas Stars? Get a lot of shots on goal -- if you can.
No team is better than the Stars at keeping their goaltender's workload light. Through 76 games, the Stars were limiting their rivals to 25.2 shots per contest, the lowest mark in the NHL. And the fewer shots they allow, the more they win.
In 22 of their first 76 games, the Stars limited the opposition to 20 shots on goal or less. They went 19-3-0 in those games. In contrast, teams that have been able to get higher totals of shots on goal have fared well against the Pacific Division leaders. Sixteen opponents managed 30 or more shots on goal against the Stars, who are 50-21-5 overall, but just 6-8-2 when surrendering 30 or more shots. That's why, despite doing a better job than anyone else at keeping the puck away from their net, the Stars rank only fifth in goals-against average (2.61).
The Stars' ability to keep opponents from getting shots on goal is nothing new. They limited opponents to a league-low 23.1 shots per game in 2003-04, and were fifth in 2002-03 with 25.1.
Shootout stuff -- The Ottawa Senators have to be happy that shootouts aren't part of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Though the Senators are the leaders in the Eastern Conference and second in the overall NHL standings -- and have outscored every team in the NHL -- they struggle in shootouts. The Sens have lost their last six shootouts and have missed their last 16 shootout opportunities.
No swallowing the whistle -- Referees have been much more willing to call penalties in overtime this season, and teams have taken advantage of the 4-on-3 power plays. Buffalo's power-play winner in overtime against Ottawa Wednesday night was the 38th man-advantage goal in OT this season, more than double the 15 that were scored in 2003-04. San Jose is tops with five OT winners on the power play, while Montreal and Chicago have allowed four. Home teams have scored 20 of the 38 OT power-play goals.
Where are the goals? -- The Minnesota Wild will miss the playoffs again this season despite having one of the NHL's best goals-against records. The problem: They just can't score goals. The Wild's season divides almost in half. The Wild is 33-5-0 in the 38 games in which it has scored three or more goals. The problem: In the other 39 games, the Wild has scored two goals or less -- and is only 3-29-7, including Thursday night's 2-1 shootout victory over Edmonton. The result: a 14-26 mark in one-goal games and a 36-34-7 overall record that has them preparing for an unwanted early vacation.
Two is enough -- The San Jose Sharks are scrambling to make the playoffs, but not because they can't hold leads. The Sharks are a league-best 29-0-0 in games in which they take a two-goal lead. The Buffalo Sabres were perfect with a two-goal lead until they wasted a 4-2 third-period advantage against the New York Rangers on March 27 and lost 5-4 in a shootout. Buffalo is 27-0-1 in games in which it takes a two-goal lead. In contrast, the New York Islanders have lost 10 games this season in which they've led by two goals.
