YOUTH DRIVING SCORING SURGE
Speed key as goals reach highest level in more than decade
Everyone in the NHL can list three or four reasons why scoring is up this season, and yet the simplest explanation is that teams are trying to catch the defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins.
“It’s the evolution of the game,” Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill told USA TODAY Sports. “Pittsburgh showed last season what speed does.”
The desire for more speed has prompted general managers to add younger players. The result has been team scoring averages (more than three goals per game) that would be the highest since 2005-06 if they held.
The scoring rate has been between 2.71 and 2.79 since 2010-11.
“It is the youth,” Carolina Hurricanes coach Bill Peters said. “They are unbelievably skilled. But they give up as much as they generate. (The puck) is going in the net. Your net or their net.”
Entering Thursday, the last two first overall picks, Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews, both 19, were first and second in points. William Nylander, who is 20, was tied for fourth.
“If you look at all of the good teams, they are fast teams,” Nill said. “I think coaches sit around in the summer thinking how they can improve, and what they see is that it is a fast game.”
Other factors are also playing a role. Goalies have not been as sharp. The average save percentage was .904; the last time save percentages dipped below .911 was in 2008-09. The average has been at least .914 in each of the last three seasons.
Increased speed has led to more penalties being called. Power-play goals are up. The average penalty-killing rate of 79.97% is the lowest in 26 seasons.
“It’s harder to defend in today’s game,” Nill said.
Speed leads to chaos, and the first two weeks of the season have been marked by wild comeback victories. Through 94 games, there were 19 comebacks from multigoal deficits. There were eight in the first two weeks (91 games) of last season.
“It makes for some fun hockey,” Hurricanes center Jordan Staal said. “I’m not sure if coaches will find a way to tighten it up. I would like (the scoring rate) to hold. I know a lot of fans are enjoying it.”
Not everyone is confident that the increased goal scoring will persist. “It’s a small sample size,” Detroit Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said.
Blashill says he tries not to pay much attention to early statistics because the numbers even out over the course of a full season.
Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen thinks there is a noticeable difference in how the game is being played this season.
“It has to do with the youth,” he said. “There are more mistakes, but there is also more enthusiasm, speed and skill.”
Red Wings winger Thomas Vanek says there is no question the league is going “to speed, speed, speed.”
“I understand,” said Vanek, 32, “because today’s kids are coming in at a different level of (skating) than we came in. But at the same time, you still have to think the game. I hope that’s an advantage I still have.”
Vanek thinks the scoring will level off, but he thinks the game is being called a bit tighter.
“I think early on this year, any little hook is being called,” Vanek said. “Over the last few years, it had to be a bad chop to be called. When the power plays go up, scoring chances go up. Or defensemen don’t want to get called for the hook, so you can get your shot away.”