Crosby off to unprecedented scoring spree
Sidney Crosby has never had a start quite like this before.
The Penguins captain already has eight goals, the most he’s scored after six games in any of his 12 seasons. In terms of point production, Crosby was at his very best at outset of 2013-14, when he rang up five goals and 12 points in the first six games, later winning both the Art Ross Trophy as the league’s leading scorer as well as the Hart for most valuable player.
Crosby is currently tied for the NHL lead in goals (along with Patrik Laine and Artem Anisimov) despite starting the season almost two weeks late because of a concussion. The Penguins are undefeated in regulation since he returned (5-0-1).
Though he won’t score the 101 goals he’s currently on pace for, Crosby may just threaten his own personal career-best of 51 goals, which he scored in his fifth NHL season.
FRUITLESS STARTS
Two of the pricier free agents of the summer still have yet to score a goal with their new teams.
Loui Eriksson, who joined the Canucks for six years and US$36 million, has only four assists through 12 games and failed to even land a shot in Vancouver’s 6-3 loss to the Maple Leafs over the weekend. He was recently bumped from a spot alongside the Sedin twins on Vancouver’s top line.
Meanwhile, former Winnipeg captain Andrew Ladd also has yet to score for the New York Islanders. He has only one assist through 12 games and was recently dropped from John Tavares’s side on New York’s top line. Sixteen Islanders have mustered more points than the 30-year-old, who signed for seven years and US$38.5 million on July 1.
How have some other costly summer signings performed so far?
Milan Lucic (seven years and $42 million with Edmonton): five goals, nine points in 13 games.
Troy Brouwer (four years, $18 million with Calgary): four goals, seven points in 14 games.
David Backes (five years and $30 million with Boston): two goals, four points in six games.
Frans Nielsen (six years and $31.5 million with Detroit): two goals, seven points in 13 games.
Kyle Okposo (seven years, $42 million with Buffalo): five goals, eight points in 10 games.
STRIKING OIL
Adam Larsson, Edmonton’s return in the controversial Taylor Hall trade, has done just fine in his early days as an Oiler.
Playing alongside fellow Swede Oscar Klefbom on Edmonton’s top pair, Larsson is averaging almost 21 minutes per game, including a teamleading 18:43 at even-strength. He’s sitting at about 50 per cent puck possession, a respectable number given his nightly competition of top lines as well as a heavy dose of starts in the defensive zone.
UNLIKELY LEADER
Who’s currently leading the highest-powered offence in hockey? That would be Michael Grabner, who’s scored seven goals on just 24 shots for the New York Rangers, currently averaging more than four goals-per game. A one-time 34-goal-scorer (2010-11), Grabner had a mere nine goals and 18 points in 80 games for Toronto last season.
BRUIN BOUNCES BACK
A Vézina Trophy winner in 2014, Tuukka Rask had his worst NHL season last year, posting a .915 save percentage in 64 games. But so far this season, the 29-year-old has been money for the Bruins: 6-1-0 with a .932 save percentage, including a hearty .956 mark at even-strength.
Rask was unbeaten in his first six starts before being peppered for five goals in a loss to the high-powered Rangers over the weekend.
MORE OF THE SAME
Fellow Finns Antti Niemi and Kari Lehtonen haven’t rebounded quite like Rask.
The Dallas Stars’ goalie tandem remains in the same anxious state as last season when neither Niemi nor Lehtonen could seize and stabilize the crease. Niemi has a .900 save percentage (.905 last season) through seven starts, Lehtonen a touch worse with an .895 mark (.906 last season) through six games.
Dallas opted against upgrading its goaltending in the summer, a decision that may require some reevaluation at some point this year.
30 MINUTES OR MORE
Ottawa Senators defenceman Erik Karlsson repeated a rare feat when he soaked up 31 minutes in a win over the Hurricanes last week.
Only 116 times in Senators history has any player played 30 minutes or more in the regular season, according to Hockey-Reference.com, with 68 of those efforts belonging to Karlsson. *All statistics entering play on Monday