Scoring in the NHL reached a new level in 2018 as the puck was deposited in the net 7,662 times in 1,282 regular-season games. This broke the previous record for a 12-month span which was 7,410 goals scored in the 2006 calendar year. The playing field was a little unbalanced though since there were 31 teams in the league in 2018 and just 30 in 2006.
The top scorer in the 2018 calendar year was Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers as the team captain posted 121 points in 81 games from 48 goals along with 73 assists. Mikko Rantanen of the Colorado Avalanche was second on the scoring list with 113 points from 34 goals and 79 assists. Fellow Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon was next with 110 points and Russian forward Nikita Kucherov followed with 109 points. Evgeni Malkin and his Pittsburgh Penguin teammate Sidney Crosby each scored 102 points and Philadelphia Flyers’ forward Claude Giroux reached 100 points.
It was the first time since 1996 that seven NHL players scored at least 100 points in the same season, when eight players managed to do it. When last year’s playoff totals are added, Kucherov jumps to number one overall with 126 points in his total of 101 games played with 40 goals along with 86 assists. The top goal scorer in the 365 days of 2018 was Washington Capitals’ sharpshooter Alexander Ovechkin with 54 goals in 80 contests while Winnipeg Jets’ youngster Patrik Laine was the runner up with 50 in his 81 contests.
It was the sixth time Ovechkin led the league in scoring for a calendar year to tie Phil Esposito for second place all-time while Montreal Canadiens’ legend Rocket Richard led the league seven times during his career. Ovechkin, who’s now 33 years old, became the fourth player to lead the regular-season goal-scoring parade in the NHL after turning 33. He also topped the list in total goals for 2018 as he scored 15 times in the postseason for 69 goals in a total of 104 games. To top things off, the veteran was named the Conn Smythe Trophy for the playoffs as he led Washington to the Stanley Cup for the first time in club history.
Brent Burns of the San Jose Sharks led all defencemen in regular-season scoring last year when he notched 82 points from a dozen goals and 70 assists. Matt Dumba of the Minnesota Wild ranked number one in goals though with 19. Even though the goals came fast and furious last year, NHL goalies still performed well. Veteran Marc-Andre Fleury of the Vegas Golden Knights posted the most wins in the regular-season with 44 in a total of 73 appearances. Fleury has now won at least 40 games in three different seasons as he registered 46 victories in 2009 and 45 more in 2013.
The highest-scoring team in 2018 was the Tampa Bay Lightning with 313 goals. They also registered the most victories in the regular season as well as points with 57 and 119 respectively. When looking at the current NHL season it’s obvious scoring hasn’t slowed down and last year’s record may be smashed in the 2019 calendar year. As of January 7th there were 13 players on pace to score over 100 points in the 2018/19 campaign with several others just off the mark. In comparison, just three players reached the 100-point plateau in 2017/18 as Giroux, Kucherov and McDavid achieved the milestone.
In the previous seven years only five players in total netted 100 points in a season and there was never more than one player per season to reach the mark. We have to go back to 1995/96 to find the last time the league had 10 or more players with at least 100 points. Team-wise, Tampa Bay was scoring at a rate of 4.17 goals each game at the halfway mark of 2018/19 with 171 goals in their first 41 contests. For the 10th-highest total in the last 28 years.