The NHL's Early-Season Scoring Surge Is A Breath Of Fresh Air

There's nothing wrong with a feisty, low-scoring battle in the NHL, but most fans love to see a ton of goals.

High-scoring games provide an emotional charge – whether it's a one-goal game or a blowout. So long as there's an abundance of scoring, you're going to get high-value entertainment.

Through the first five days of the NHL's 2026-27 schedule, fans of goals have to be delighted – and NHL coaches have to be horrified. In the 39 games played through Sunday's five-game slate, 16 had at least seven goals scored in total and five games had nine goals or more. 

By contrast, only five of the 39 games had three goals or fewer. There's clearly a trend toward high-scoring hockey, and there are at least a couple of factors playing into the barrage of scoring this year. 

The biggest factor, we believe, is the NHL's first year with fewer pre-season games.

Saying that we've seen sloppy hockey thus far would be an understatement. Most teams had only one or two pre-season games to try and fit all the pieces together, which is proving to not be enough time to tighten up defensively.

Coaches spend the entire season whittling away at their team's defensive flaws. By the time the Stanley Cup playoffs begin, the best teams in the league are the ones their coach has molded into a tight defensive-minded machine. With a shorter runway to work out the kinks, 

But the other main reason scoring is up is because the caliber of play increases every year. When you have high-impact youngsters like San Jose Sharks superstar Macklin Celebrini and Chicago Blackhawks star Connor Bedard raising the ceiling for young players, you're going to have a tougher time shutting down players offensively.

Even established superstars like the Edmonton Oilers' dynamic duo of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are still finding ways to take their offensive games to new heights. Thus, teams that can't defend properly right now are getting eaten alive by the players that smell blood in the water.

As it stands, the Colorado Avalanche have a goals-for average of 7.00 through two games. In the same span, the Pittsburgh Penguins have a 6.50 goals-for average, and through their first three games, the Oilers and Vancouver Canucks each have a goals-for average of 5.67.

We know none of those numbers are sustainable. Teams with a capable defense will start to turn the tables and start winning low-scoring games relatively soon. 

But for the moment, who says we can't enjoy this high-scoring stretch? Goalies aren't enjoying it, and coaches most certainly will loathe it. But for the rest of us, this kind of offensive display is a breath of fresh air, a cavalcade of chaos that keeps the arena's goal lights lit for nearly the entire game. 

The NHL has delivered high-scoring, high-event hockey through the first week of the 2026-27 season, and we should be thrilled with it while it lasts.

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