It’s easy to get caught up in the gaudy numbers being posted by NHLers these days.
The top three scorers in the league — Nikita Kucherov, Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid — are all on pace for at least 135 points. That hasn’t happened in more than 30 years.
Auston Matthews bagged two goals in Washington Wednesday night to fully re-ignite his chase for the first 70-goal season since Alex Mogilny and Teemu Selanne in 1992-93. Of course, there’s a guy who plays full-time in Washington who is now just 50 goals away from becoming the NHL’s all-time leading goal-scorer.
Alex Ovechkin posted his second consecutive two-goal game on Wednesday to give him 845 career goals. And as fun as it is to contemplate him catching Wayne Gretzky or Matthews winning the Rocket Richard with a number that begins with a seven, it’s worth noting what Ovechkin’s first pair of the week accomplished, too.
On Monday night in Calgary, Ovi’s first goal of the game clinched his 19th straight 20-goal season. Now, we don’t typically celebrate 20-goal seasons, especially in this day and age of guys filling the net and extra-especially when the player notching said benchmark is somebody who’s usually putting up 40- or 50-goal showings.
Still, 20 goals is 20 goals. It might not represent a big year for Ovi, but the fact — despite work stoppages, the potential for injuries and, of course, global pandemics — he’s joined Brendan Shanahan and Gordie Howe as the only guys ever to do it in 19 straight years is obviously something else.
And even with goal scoring spiking, notching a 20-goal season still separates you from a big portion of the league. It’s the unofficial total that sort of designates you top six-worthy; that means you’re a guy who goes out and finds the net every fourth game in the world’s best league.
With that in mind, we want to use this week’s Power Rankings as a vehicle to highlight every player in the league who has either already bagged 20 this year or is on pace — even with everything that can go wrong in an NHL season — to end the year with 20 or more in the goal column.
1. Boston Bruins (41-14-15) David Pastrnak, who turns 28 in May and is signed on to be a Bruin until 2031, is exactly 200 goals behind Johnny Bucyk’s franchise record of 545 thanks to a hat trick on Tuesday night that gives him 44 on the season. Johnny, you are on notice, sir. Brad Marchand (27) has eclipsed the 20-goal mark for the 13th time in his fantastic career and Charlie Coyle has already established a career high with 23 tallies this year. Jake DeBrusk is tracking 20 on the nose after scoring at a 35-goal pace last season.
2. Winnipeg Jets (44-19-5) Three guys — Kyle Connor (30), Mark Scheifele (22) and Nik Ehlers (20) — have scored 20 goals for the Jets this season. Sean Monahan has scored 21 between Winnipeg and Montreal, while Tyler Toffoli has now recorded the third 30-goal season of his career thanks to the four goals he’s already bagged with the Jets after being acquired from New Jersey. Meanwhile, Nino Niederreiter — who might be the living, breathing cutoff line for who you consider to be an NHL goal-scorer — is on pace for 22.
3. Colorado Avalanche (44-20-5) Nathan MacKinnon has equaled his career best of 42 goals. Mikko Rantanen has 37, while Valeri Nichushkin’s 25 in 45 games is a 45-goal clip. Cale Makar (17) is tracking his second career 20-goal showing from the back end.
4. Florida Panthers (45-19-4) Sam Reinhart has 27 goals on the power play alone and is two away from his first 50-goal season. He’s got a chance to become the sixth player in league history to pot 30 PPGs in a season. Carter Verhaeghe has 30 goals for the second straight year, Matthew Tkachuk has 22 and Barkov is on pace for 22. New Cat Vladimir Tarasenko has two goals in five games with Florida and his next one will be No. 20.
5. New York Rangers (45-20-4) By hitting paydirt in both of his past two games, Alexis Lafreniere is a 20-goal scorer in the NHL for the first time. Artemi Panarin (38), Chris Kreider (33), Vincent Trocheck (24) and Mika Zibanejad (22) are already there.
6. Carolina Hurricanes (43-20-6) Seth Jarvis is on a heater — five goals in his past four games — so at 25 goals, not only is he a 20-goal guy for the first in his career, 30 is now in reach. Sebastian Aho is the team leader with 27, while Martin Necas (22) and Teuvo Teravainen (21) have also surpassed 20. Jake Guentzel was sitting on 22 when he arrived from Pittsburgh and has two more in his past two games with Carolina.
7. Vancouver Canucks (43-18-8) Meet the only team in the NHL with three 30-goal scorers: Brock Boeser (36), Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller (both 33). Nils Hoglander has recorded the first 20-goal season of his career.
8. Nashville Predators (40-25-4) Ryan O’Reilly has 24 goals and a real shot at a career-high 29. Who saw that coming when he inked with the Preds last summer? Roman Josi is tracking his second 20-goal season and with 18 on the board, has an outside crack at equaling his previous best of 23. Gus Nyquist is on pace for 21 and fellow Swede Filip Forsberg leads the surging Preds with 36.
9. Dallas Stars (42-19-9) The Stars — who do not have a 30-goal scorer — are the only team with six 20-goal scorers on the books: Wyatt Johnston and Roope Hintz (26), Joe Pavelski (24 at age 39!), Jason Robertson (24), Matt Duchene (23) and Tyler Seguin (21). A seventh is coming soon, as Mason Marchment is sitting at 19 goals.
10. Edmonton Oilers (41-21-4) Zach Hyman, incredibly, is tracking a 57-goal showing. That means, if he gets scorching-hot down the stretch, he could hit 60. Last year’s Rocket Richard winner, Connor McDavid, has 26 goals — including three in his past four games — after bagging 64 last season. Leon Draisaitl has 34, Evander Kane has 21 and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins should just squeeze in as the fifth 20-goal guy this year. Adam Henrique scored his first goal as an Oiler on Tuesday and sits at 19.
11. Toronto Maple Leafs (39-20-9) Matthews is on pace for 69 and William Nylander (38) is three away from a new career high. The injured Mitch Marner has 25 and captain John Tavares is on 23, thanks to a three-game streak and potting six in his past nine games.
12. Tampa Bay Lightning (37-25-6) Nikita Kucherov has already matched his career-best with 41 goals this year. Anthony Duclair landed from San Jose with 16 and has three already in four games with Tampa. Brayden Point (38) is going to be a 40-goal guy for the second time in his career (and second consecutive year), Steven Stamkos has 27, Brandon Hagel has 23 and Nick Paul (18) is tracking the first 20-goal showing of his career at age 29 (as of Wednesday, so happy belated, Nick!).
13. Los Angeles Kings (36-22-11) The Kings could well finish with six 20-goal guys. Trevor Moore (25), Kevin Fiala (23), Anze Kopitar (23) and Adrian Kempe (21) are already there, Quinton Byfield (19) is about to record his first 20-goal season and Philip Danault is on pace to hit 20 exactly.
14. Washington Capitals (33-26-9) Dylan Strome has already equaled his career best with 23 goals this season. Tom Wilson is on pace for precisely 20. How many more goals does Ovechkin need this year to make you think he can pass Gretzky next season? If he stays hot and gets eight more in the Caps’ 14 remaining games, do you think he could net 42 next year and pass 99?
15. Vegas Golden Knights (36-25-7) Jonathan Marchessault — the reigning Conn Smythe winner and a pending UFA — has blown past his previous best of 30 goals and, with 38, could establish a new benchmark that starts with a four. Jack Eichel is at 21 in just 49 games, while William Karlsson is at 24 in 56 games. New Knight Anthony had 20 in Washington and has scratched out one more in six games with Vegas.
16. Philadelphia Flyers (35-26-8) Travis Konecny (27), Owen Tippett (25) and Joel Farabee (21) are all already there. Tyson Foerster — with 17 in 64 games — might just make it.
17. Minnesota Wild (34-28-8) Marco Rossi is tracking a 21-goal season as a rookie. Not bad, kid. Ryan Hartman is also on pace to get there, which could give the Wild five 20-goal guys when you add in Kirill Kaprizov (36), Joel Eriksson Ek (29) and Matt Boldy (24).
18. St. Louis Blues (36-30-3) The Blues are one of only four teams with five 20-goal guys (the Rangers and Canes also have five, Dallas has six), but none of Pavel Buchnevich (24), Robert Thomas (23), Jake Neighbours (22), Jordan Kyrou (21) or Brandon Saad (20) are tracking 30.
19. Detroit Red Wings (35-28-6) Less than two weeks ago, Lucas Raymond had 17 goals. Right now, he’s the league’s hottest goal-scorer with tallies in five straight games and seven overall in that stretch to give him a career-best 24 on the year. Dylan Larkin has 26 this year, while Alex DeBrincat had nine in his first seven games this year, but just 14 since for a total of 23. Daniel Sprong is tracking 20 goals on the button.
20. Calgary Flames (33-30-5) Yegor Sharangovich looks like a keeper. He’s got 28 goals, the same amount as Blake Coleman has during his career year. Nazem Kadri has 23, one fewer than he tallied last year during his first go with the Flames.
21. Buffalo Sabres (33-32-5) J.J. Peterka, with 21 goals as a sophomore, has been a nice story for the Sabres. It’s obviously been a trying year for Tage Thompson, who has 21 goals in 59 games. Jeff Skinner leads the team with 24, while Alex Tuch needs one more to get to 20. With 17 in 69 games, Rasmus Dahlin is on pace for his first 20-goal season.
22. New Jersey Devils (33-32-4) Even in this awfully disappointing season, Nico Hischier (22), Jesper Bratt (22), Jack Hughes (21) and Timo Meier (21) have all hit the mark. Dawson Mercer, with 19, is next.
23. New York Islanders (29-24-15) Bo Horvat and Brock Nelson are both at 29 goals. Kyle Palmieri has 22, Mathew Barzal has 20 and Anders Lee is tracking 20. Nobody is scoring on the slumping Isles, though, as they’re averaging 1.2 goals per game on a five-game losing skid.
24. Pittsburgh Penguins (30-29-9) Sidney Crosby (33) could still hit 40 with a strong finish, while Brian Rust (21 in 48) has actually played at a 35-goal pace this year. Evgeni Malkin is on 19.
25. Seattle Kraken (28-27-12) Jared McCann won’t equal the 40 he had last year, but still has 27 goals this season. The only other Kraken on pace to hit 20 is Oliver Bjorkstrand, who’s tracking 22.
26. Montreal Canadiens (25-31-12) Cole Caufield’s most recent goal was No. 20, while Nick Suzuki (27) established a new career high with his most recent tally.
27. Columbus Blue Jackets (23-34-12) Boone Jenner has 21, while Kirill Marchenko is on pace for 22. The math says freshman Dmitri Voronkov (17) will barely get there.
28. Ottawa Senators (28-35-5) Brady Tkachuk has 31, Drake Batherson has 23 and Claude Giroux (19) will record the 11th 20-goal season of his wonderful career. Tim Stutzle is on pace for 21.
29. Chicago Blackhawks (19-45-5) If there’s anyone in the league you think might be embarking on a career with 19 straight 20-goal seasons, it’s Connor Bedard. The 18-year-old has 21 this season despite missing significant time with his fractured jaw. Jason Dickinson — whose previous career high was nine goals — is on pace for 21.
30. Arizona Coyotes (28-36-5) Clayton Keller leads the way with 28, while Lawson Crouse has 20. Next up are Nick Schmaltz and Michael Carcone, who both have 19. Nick Bjugstad is on pace for 20.
31. Anaheim Ducks (23-43-3) Frank Vatrano’s 20th goal came halfway through the year, in his 41st game. He’s got just nine more since. Troy Terry, with 19, is one away.
32. San Jose Sharks (16-45-7) With Anthony Duclair traded, it’s all up to Fabian Zetterlund! The Swede has 18 goals and is tracking 22. If he gets stuck in the mud, San Jose is a lock to finish without a 20-goal guy.
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