Don't look now, but Auston Matthews is on pace for 164 goals, Elias Pettersson is on pace for 246 points, and six NHL teams can go 82-0. Here are good and rough early-season trends that won't last, or will they?
Depending on your point of view, early-season stats in the NHL can either be a cause for celebration or a woe-is-me way to ruin your day. The trends can be harbingers of the future but can also evaporate in a heartbeat.
While the underdog Chicago Blackhawks were full value for their 4-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday night, Connor Bedard's career-opening point streak was halted in Game 4. For what it's worth, the rookie has now fallen below the point-per-game threshold.
And as much as it would have been historic to see Auston Matthews become the first NHL player ever to log a hat trick in three straight games, it's hard to feel surprised that he didn't.
Even his apparent last-minute tally was called back by an offside review. As Mark Knopfler proclaimed in a Dire Straits song six years before Matthews was born, "Sometimes you're the windshield; sometimes you're the bug."
After Monday's game, Matthews is "only" on pace to score 164 goals this season. With Alex Ovechkin's quest for Wayne Gretzky's all-time goal record seemingly on pause while the Washington Capitals adjust to their new life under coach Spencer Carbery, Matthews could take a run at Gretzky's single-season record of 92, the way he's going. That would be quite the plot twist.
The Leafs' loss on Monday also leaves just six unbeaten teams with a chance to go 82-0 this season, seven nights in.
Dallas and the Islanders have played just one game each, so we won't read too much into their starts.
Vegas, at 3-0-0? OK, they're the champs. Boston, at 2-0-0? Sure. Despite losing Bergeron and Krejci to retirement, the Bruins are coming off a historically great season. Colorado? They're just one year removed from their Stanley Cup, playing with a massive chip on their shoulder.
And...Vancouver? Determined to get out to a strong start for the first time in years, Rick Tocchet's crew is still in the hunt after a pair of impressive wins over a formidable foe in Edmonton. Four more road games now await, including the dreaded Florida gauntlet. How long can the Canucks sustain their success?
They do have Elias Pettersson in cheat mode, with six points in his first two games. Looking to get paid when he becomes an RFA at the end of this season, the 24-year-old is coming off a 102-point season and earning Selke Trophy attention.
At the rate he's going, Pettersson could shatter Gretzky's single-season record of 215 points with ample room to spare. At three points a game, he's on pace for 246.
One thing we know: some teams need a little extra time to dial in their systems and start playing the kind of defense their coaches are craving, but two points in October count the same in the standings as two points in March. They can also give teams an inside track on a playoff spot, based on the long-held assumption that 75 percent of playoff positions are effectively decided by U.S. Thanksgiving in late November.
So — pay attention to what you're seeing, but remember that things can change in an instant at this time of year.
Records are made to be broken. Last year, we saw the Boston Bruins defy the odds to set a new single-season points record (135) while the Oilers rolled out the best power play of all-time (32.4 percent).
More marks could tumble this season, but here are a few other standout stats that are almost certainly unsustainable as the year rolls on.
Near-Perfect Goaltending
After Monday's games, eight netminders are performing at a goal-a-game rate or better.
James Reimer entered the chat with a vengeance on Monday night, making 23 saves in his Detroit Red Wings debut for a 4-0 shutout over the Columbus Blue Jackets. As good as he was, it's safe to assume that 1.000 save percentage is not going to last all year.
With a two-game sample size already, Jordan Binnington has given up just one goal in 65 minutes in both of his starts to date. He fell in the shootout to Jake Oettinger and the Dallas Stars in his debut on Thursday, then bested Seattle's Joey Daccord on Saturday.
A 0.92 goals-against average and .969 save percentage is a marvellous beginning for the newly married 30-year-old, who has seen his numbers trend downward every year since he won the Stanley Cup in 2019.
With just those single starts to their credit so far, Oettinger and Daccord are also sitting at 0.92. So is new San Jose Shark Mackenzie Blackwood, who saw more rubber in his 2-1 shootout loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday than both those goalies combined. With 51 saves, Blackwood set an NHL record for a goaltender in his debut with a new team.
In Boston, reigning Vezina Trophy holder Linus Ullmark picked up where he left off, beaten only by Connor Bedard in a 3-1 home win over the Chicago Blackhawks Bruins' season opener last Thursday. And the Golden Knights' saves-by-committee approach continues to serve them well. They're the first team this year to get to 3-0-0 and have outscored their opponents 12-3 in a trio of 4-1 wins.
In his first game since March 23, Logan Thompson made 22 saves to start his year with a 1.00 GAA and .957 save percentage as Vegas beat San Jose last Thursday. Meanwhile, Adin Hill has proven worthy of his $9.8-million contract extension. The 27-year-old started his year with wins over Seattle and Anaheim.
His save percentage of .964 is a hair better than Thompson's, but he has to settle for a 1.01 GAA because he was off the ice for 57 seconds against the Ducks.
Champagne problems, all round. As good as the Golden Knights look in the early going, it's inconceivable they'll get through the year with just 82 goals allowed. Since the NHL's first major expansion in 1967-68, just one team has finished with a GAA below two: the 2011-12 St. Louis Blues, where Brian Elliott and Jaroslav Halak combined for just 156 goals allowed all year, or 1.89 per game.
Not-So-Special Teams
Of the seven teams that have not yet scored a power-play goal this season, three of them haven't fallen behind in special-teams play. They've also stymied their opponents with a perfect penalty kill.
The three squads with zeros in both columns so far: San Jose, Dallas and the Islanders.
Once again, we note that the Stars and Islanders have played just one game so far, which makes their numbers a little less noteworthy.
But while the Sharks didn't score on any of their six power plays in their first two games, they also didn't allow a goal while shorthanded to dangerous Vegas or Colorado.
In addition to Blackwood's hot start, that rock-solid penalty kill is another thing that coach David Quinn's club can build off.
Chicago also went into Monday night's game against Toronto with no power-play goals and no goals against on the penalty kill, although they did have one shorthanded tally against them.
Against the Maple Leafs, Tyler Johnson shattered the power play goose-egg late in the second period, an insurance goal that puck the Blackhawks up 3-1. Taylor Raddysh added a shorthanded empty-netter with six seconds to go, which means Chicago's power play is now effectively performing at the proverbial 110 percent.
The same is true for the Calgary Flames, who are a perfect 10-for-10 on the penalty kill to start the season and scored a shorthanded goal off the stick of Rasmus Andersson in their season-opening 5-3 win over Winnipeg.