NHL.com goes behind the numbers to examine trends during the first 10 games of the season from 10 NHL teams with notable statistics. Some NHL coaches use increments of 10 games to measure success and to identify areas of improvement necessary to strengthen the team. All statistics and records listed are measured through the first 10 games of the season for the team in question. The only NHL team that had not played 10 games entering Thursday is the New Jersey Devils.
Anaheim Ducks (record through 10 games: 5-4-1): Goaltender John Gibson had the best even-strength save percentage (.965) and the second-best overall save percentage (.949) behind Semyon Varlamov of the Colorado Avalanche (.953) among NHL goalies who had played at least five games. Despite the Ducks having the 17th-ranked penalty kill during the span (77.1 percent), Gibson had a .915 save percentage in penalty-kill situations, fourth-best among goalies who had played at least five games.
Arizona Coyotes (5-5-0): The Coyotes were fifth in the NHL in 5-on-5 shot attempts differential (SAT) at plus-59 and third in SAT behind (plus-70).
Carolina Hurricanes (6-3-1): The Hurricanes led the NHL in SAT (plus-206) but were tied with the Chicago Blackhawks and Nashville Predators for the third-worst power play (11.4 percent) and tied with the Florida Panthers for the worst penalty kill (66.7 percent).
Video: [email protected]: Aho ties NHL record on Ferland’s PPG
Colorado Avalanche (6-2-2): Their top line of left wing Gabriel Landeskog, center Nathan MacKinnon and right wing Mikko Rantanen combined for 43 points (20 goals, 23 assists), which was 49.4 percent of Colorado’s total production (87 points).
Pittsburgh Penguins (6-2-2): The Penguins ranked first in points per 60 minutes (11.72), goals per 60 minutes (4.24) and assists per 60 minutes (7.49). Center Evgeni Malkin led the NHL in points per 60 (6.31) and right wing Phil Kessel was second (5.12) among players who had played at least 10 games.
Philadelphia Flyers (4-6-0): The Flyers allowed the most goals in the NHL through Oct. 25 (40), and No. 1 goalie Brian Elliott‘s .886 save percentage was 30th of 35 NHL goalies who had played at least five games.
Tampa Bay Lightning (7-2-1): The Lightning had the top-ranked penalty kill in the NHL (95.1 percent). Defenseman Ryan McDonagh led Tampa Bay with 10 shorthanded blocked shots (sixth in NHL) during the span.
Video: [email protected]: Kucherov fires one-timer on the power play
Vegas Golden Knights (4-5-1): The Golden Knights led the NHL with 283 hits and ranked second in SAT (plus-156) behind the Hurricanes. Vegas had the second lowest 5-on-5 shooting percentage (5.0).
Washington Capitals (5-3-2): The Capitals have the top-ranked power play in the NHL (37.1 percent) and are tied for first in power-play goals with the St. Louis Blues (13). Defenseman John Carlson and forwards Evgeny Kuznetsov, Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom are tied for first in the NHL with eight power-play points each through Washington’s first 10 games.
Winnipeg Jets (6-3-1): The Jets had an NHL-high 156 penalty minutes. Winnipeg had seven skaters with at least 10 penalty minutes during that span, including two defensemen (Tyler Myers and Ben Chiarot) with 24 minutes each.
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