Hall point streak for Devils compares favorably with Gretzky record

Taylor Hall extended his point streak to 26 games Tuesday, and the New Jersey Devils forward's run stacks up well against the longest streak in NHL history, by Wayne Gretzky.

After getting two assists in a 6-4 victory against the Montreal Canadiens, Hall has 38 points (18 goals, 20 assists) in his past 26 games played; he missed three games Jan. 22-25 with a thumb injury.
He has had a point in 19 straight games (26 points; 13 goals, 13 assists) since returning from injury, the longest such streak in the NHL this season, and the longest in Devils history entering New Jersey's home game against the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; MSG+, TSN3, NHL.TV); Patrik Elias (1999-2000) and Brian Gionta (2005-06) shared the record, each having had a point in 15 consecutive games.
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His 26-game streak is the longest in the NHL since Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks had a point in 26 straight games in 2015-16.
Gretzky had at least one point in the Edmonton Oilers' first 51 games of the 1983-84 season. And though Hall's personal streak is a little more than halfway to Gretzky's streak, once scoring levels are factored in, it's nearly as impressive.

In 1983-84, NHL teams averaged 3.94 goals per game, 32.4 percent higher than the 2.96 NHL teams were averaging this season through Tuesday.
Gretzky played on one of the highest-scoring teams in NHL history. The Oilers averaged 5.58 goals per game in the 1983-84 season, which is about double New Jersey's average of 2.91 this season.
Tuesday was the first time the Devils scored six goals during Hall's 26-game streak; they had scored five one other time. The Oilers scored at least five goals in 37 of the 51 games during Gretzky' streak, including four games with 10 or more.
Hall has been just as large a part of New Jersey's offense during his streak as Gretzky was for Edmonton during his. Hall has either scored or assisted on 50.7 percent (38 of 75) of New Jersey's goals during his streak, 0.5 percent less than Gretzky's 51.2 percent (153 of 299).

The odds against Hall's streak were far greater than those against Gretzky's. Prior to his streak, Gretzky had scored a point in 277 of 319 NHL games, and a player who does so in 86.8 percent of his games has a one-in-1,339 chance of getting a point in 51 consecutive games. In contrast, Hall's chances of having a 26-game streak was one in 2.17 million, based on a prior record of scoring in 57.1 percent of his NHL games (279 of 489).
Among Hall's contemporaries, the closest comparison is Kane, whose streak was the longest since Mario Lemieux of the Pittsburgh Penguins scored a point in 28 consecutive games played in 1995-96. During his streak, Kane scored 40 points (16 goals, 24 assists).
Given the parity between teams in this era and with average scoring levels staying below 3.00 goals per team per game, point streaks of more than 20 games have become rare in the NHL. Two other players have had one since 2005-06: Dany Heatley of the Ottawa Senators (22 games that season), and Sidney Crosby of the Penguins (25 in 2010-11).
Each was on a team that had more established linemates. One of Hall's linemates is Nico Hischier, a rookie forward who has 41 points (13 goals, 28 assists) in 67 games. He's the only Devils player who has as many points for the season as Hall has in his 26-game streak.