With the second full week of the 2022-23 NHL season now in the books, it’s time once again to dig into the numbers and take a look at what’s trending.
This week’s edition of the Stat Pack takes on a bit of a new format, shining the spotlight onto something good, something bad and something obscure or unexpected.
The Good: The Stellar Stoppers
Scoring jumped significantly in the NHL last season, and it’s still on the rise. In the early going this year, teams are averaging 3.22 goals scored per game, up from 3.14 last season, per Hockey Reference.
Despite the tough environment, seven goaltenders around the league are boasting perfect records after starting at least three of their team’s games this season.
After his incredible playoff performance against the Calgary Flames last spring, the cover star of The Hockey News’ current 2022 Goalie Issue, Jake Oettinger of the Dallas Stars, has picked up right where he left off. With just five goals allowed, he’s 4-0-0, with a .959 save percentage.
A couple of comeback kids are in the mix. In St. Louis, Jordan Binnington is 3-0-0 with a .940 save percentage, while John Tortorella seems to be bringing out the best in Carter Hart. He has a 4-0-0 record and a .949 save percentage for the resurgent Philadelphia Flyers.
With Matt Murray on the shelf in Toronto, Ilya Samsonov has stepped up and shown that he’s having no trouble adjusting to his new environment. He’s giving Leafs fans hope with his 4-0-0 record and .938 save percentage.
In Pittsburgh, Tristan Jarry is continuing his strong play from last season with a 4-0-0 record. And Linus Ullmark also has four wins in Boston, where the surprising Bruins are 5-1-0.
The only asterisk on this list sits next to the name of Calgary’s Jacob Markstrom. He’s technically 3-0-0, but his teammates bailed him out when he was pulled following the first period against the Buffalo Sabres last Thursday, after giving up three goals on 12 shots. The Sabres ultimately won that game 6-3, so Dan Vladar was dinged for the loss. He was in net when Alex Tuch scored what proved to be the game-winner, just 46 seconds into the second period.
The Bad: European Hangovers?
European hockey fans know that the NHL is the best league in the world. The league’s Global Series games offer a rare opportunity for those fans to see some of their homegrown stars competing against top-tier competition.
With the Global Series returning for the first time since 2019, the league tapped one of its most high-profile and likeable Czech players, Tomas Hertl, to headline the proceedings for two regular-season games in hockey-mad Prague. Czech defenseman Radek Simek is also a Shark.
To further expand the reach of the event, exhibition games against local squads in Switzerland and Germany were also arranged, under the banner of the 2022 Global Series Challenge.
Hertl scored once when the scene shifted to Prague, and Niederreiter dominated the proceedings with three goals as the Predators defeated the Sharks by scores of 4-1 and 3-2.
Then the teams headed home, where they’ve been in a funk.
After losing their first three games back on North American soil, the Sharks are finally showing a pulse with wins in two of their last three and have climbed to 2-6-0.
But now in the first season of an eight-year contract extension with a cap hit of more than $8.1 million, Hertl picked up just his third point of the year when he assisted on an Erik Karlsson goal in Philadelphia on Sunday. And Timo Meier will be a restricted free agent in need of a new deal at the end of this season, with a massive qualifying offer requirement of $10 million. Despite sitting second in the league with 34 shots on net, Meier is still looking for his first goal of this season and has posted just two assists to date.
As for Josi, he has 31 shots in seven games and is also still looking for his first goal. After he finished out last season with an incredible 23 goals and 96 points, the 2020 Norris Trophy winner has just one assist this season, and the Preds are 0-4-1 since returning from Prague.
Are the stumbles a result of the tough travel back to the central and western United States with little time to re-acclimate before the ‘real’ regular season began? Or is something more troubling afoot?
With barely a month to go before American Thanksgiving, when playoff spots are often nearly all-but-claimed, the Sharks and Predators need to get on course quickly, or risk this season being lost.
The Eyebrow-Raiser: The Sabres’ First-Round Riches
Managers of rebuilding hockey teams love to talk about developing a foundation of talent through high draft picks. And as owners of the NHL’s longest playoff drought, the Buffalo Sabres have had more than a decade to acquire top-end talent.
New captain Kyle Okposo was a seventh-overall pick by the New York Islanders back in 2006. And even he seemed a bit surprised when it was pointed out that 10 of the 18 skaters iced by the Sabres in their 5-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night had first-round pedigrees.
On the blue line, it’s hard to miss the two first-overall picks. Rasmus Dahlin (2018) seems to have somehow redirected all of Roman Josi’s goals his way and appears to be on the verge of a breakout season, while big, steady Owen Power (2021) doesn’t turn 20 until Nov. 22 but is already averaging 22:14 of ice time per game.
It’s up front where things get interesting. From Saturday’s lineup, by lines:
- Jeff Skinner (Carolina, 7th overall in 2010; acquired by trade)
- Tage Thompson (St. Louis, 26th overall in 2016; acquired by trade)
- Alex Tuch (Minnesota, 18th overall in 2014; acquired by trade)
- Vinnie Hinostroza (Chicago, 169th overall in 2012; signed as a free agent)
- Dylan Cozens (Buffalo, 7th overall in 2019)
- J.J. Peterka (Buffalo, 34th overall in 2020)
- Rasmus Asplund (Buffalo, 33rd overall in 2016)
- Casey Mittelstadt (Buffalo, 8th overall in 2017)
- Victor Olofsson (Buffalo, 181st overall in 2014)
- Jack Quinn (Buffalo, 8th overall in 2020)
- Zemgus Girgensons (Buffalo, 14th overall in 2012)
- Kyle Okposo (New York Islanders, 7th overall in 2006; signed as a free agent)
The split is almost even between players drafted by the Sabres and those acquired from other sources — although the entire first line came to the team via trade.
“I just think it’s showing how we’ve had to build over the years,” Okposo said Saturday. “We’ve had to try and put a culture together because no matter how many first-round picks you have, it’s no guarantee of success. So we’re trying to get there as a team, and we’re going to continue to keep going.”
Two other first-round picks were not in the lineup on Saturday. Henri Jokiharju (Chicago, 29th overall in 2017; acquired by trade) was headed back to Buffalo after suffering a facial injury on Thursday in Calgary, while Peyton Krebs (Vegas, 17th overall in 2019; acquired by trade) was a healthy scratch for the first time this season.
