Facts and Figures: First-quarter highlights

Below are highlights from the opening 49 days and 317 games of the 2018-19 NHL season, which will pass the one-quarter mark Wednesday, when 14 games are on the schedule.

Kid power

Nine of the top 15 players in the NHL scoring race are 23 or younger, including each of the top four (forward Mikko Rantanen of the Colorado Avalanche, center Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers, Colorado center Nathan MacKinnon and Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner). In all, 46.4 percent of players (375 of 808) to appear in at least one game this season are 25 or younger.
Vancouver Canucks forward Elias Pettersson, who turned 20 on Nov. 12, leads all rookies in goals (12) and points (19), Pettersson had 10 goals in his first 10 NHL games, the fifth player after the NHL's inaugural season in 1917-18 to accomplish that feat. He joined Odie Cleghorn of the 1918-19 Montreal Canadiens (12), Don Murdoch of the New York Rangers in 1976-77 (11), and Dmitri Kvartalnov of the Boston Bruins and Rob Gaudreau of the San Jose Sharks in 1992-93 (10 each).
Canadiens forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi (born July 6, 2000) made history on opening night by becoming the first player born in the 2000s to skate in a regular-season NHL game. Four days later, Carolina Hurricanes forward Andrei Svechnikov (born March 26, 2000) became the first player born in the 2000s to score a goal in a regular-season game.
Each of the top four selections of the 2018 NHL Draft class - defenseman Rasmus Dahlin (Buffalo Sabres, No. 1) and forwards Svechnikov (No. 2), Kotkaniemi (No. 3) and Brady Tkachuk (Ottawa Senators, No. 4) - has least one goal and eight points. The last time each of the top four picks scored a goal in the season immediately after their draft was 2009-10, when John Tavares (New York Islanders, No. 1), Victor Hedman (Tampa Bay Lightning, No. 2), Matt Duchene (Avalanche, No. 3) and Evander Kane (Atlanta Thrashers, No. 4) combined for the feat.

Scoring on the rise

There have been slightly more goals scored (1,941) than at the same point in 2017-18 (1,920), for an average of 6.1 per game. That's almost identical to last season, which finished with an average of 5.9 goals in 1,271 games, tied for the second-highest since 1996-97 behind 2005-06 (6.2). The 1,941 goals scored this season (including 22 shootout-deciding goals) are up 13.9 percent from 2016-17 (1,704, including 27 shootout-deciding goals). The 2005-06 season had 2,007 goals through 317 games and is the only season since 1996-97 to have more than 1,941 goals scored at this stage. The 7,588 goals scored in 2005-06 season are the most in one NHL season.
A total of 52 players who have played in at least 10 games are averaging at least one point per game, the highest such total at the quarter mark of a season since 1995-96 (55). There are 15 players with at least 25 points, the most through 317 games played since 2007-08 (16), and 35 with at least 10 goals, the most since 1996-97 (37).
There have been 25 instances this season of a team scoring at least seven goals in a game; that's the most at the quarter mark of a season since 1995-96 (31 in 266 GP). There have been 23 hat tricks in 2018-19, the same as at this point last season; the last season to feature more at the quarter mark was 2010-11 (26). The 23 hat tricks have been scored by 21 different players; it's the third time in the past 10 years that at least 20 different players had a hat trick in the first quarter of the season (also 23 in 2017-18; 26 in 2010-11).

Historic starts

McDavid became the first player in NHL history to have a point on nine consecutive team goals to begin a season (four goals, five assists). The previous mark season was seven, set by Adam Oates with the Detroit Red Wings in 1986-87.
Forward Sebastian Aho had at least one assist in each of the Hurricanes' first 12 games to match the NHL record for longest season-opening assist streak (four goals, 13 assists), a mark set by Wayne Gretzky with the Edmonton Oilers in 1982-83 (seven goals, 20 assists) and matched by Ken Linseman of the Boston Bruins in 1985-86 (two goals, 19 assists). Aho also set a Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers franchise for longest season-opening point streak, eclipsing the previous mark of 11 games set by Ron Francis with Hartford in 1984-85 (14 points; six goals, eight assists).
New Jersey Devils forward Kyle Palmieri became the first player in NHL history to score his team's opening goals in four consecutive games to begin a season. He also became the third player to score a power-play in each of his team's first four games in a season since the NHL officially began tracking the statistic in 1933-34, joining Dino Ciccarelli (five games with the Minnesota North Stars in 1986-87) and Bronco Horvath (four games with the Boston Bruins in 1959-60.
Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews became the fifth player in NHL history to have multiple points in each of his team's first seven games to open a season (16 points; 10 goals, six assists). He joined Mario Lemieux of the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1992-93 (12 games), Kevin Stevens of the 1992-93 Penguins (eight games), Gretzky with the Oilers in 1983-84 (seven games) and Mike Bossy of the New York Islanders in 1984-85 (seven points).
The Nashville Predators started 8-0-0 on the road, becoming the third team in NHL history to win its first eight road games in a season. The 2006-07 Sabres own the record with 10, one more than the 2009-10 Devils.

No lead is safe

There have been 144 comeback wins in 2018-19, the second-most through 317 games of a season in NHL history behind 2012-13 (146). That includes 61 instances of a team winning after trailing in the third period; that's also the second-most at this stage of a season in League history behind 2012-13 (62).
In all, 73 games have gone into overtime, the most at this stage of a season in the 3-on-3 era. Of those 73 games, 51 (69.9 percent) have ended during the five-minute overtime period; that's highest percentage of games ending in OT during the shootout era, which began in 2005-06. The previous high was 45 of 66 (68.2 percent) in 2015-16. There have also been 19 game-tying goals in the final two minutes of the third period; that's second in any NHL season behind 2000-01 (21).