Surprising save percentages, star-level offensive performances and surging special teams.
As the 2024-25 NHL season passed its quarter mark this week, The Athletic asked its NHL staff for a stat to sum up each team’s season so far.
What’s the defining data point for your favorite team? Here are all 32 answers.
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.915 team save percentage: On average as of Thursday, the Ducks allow the most shots on goal (34.1) in the league. Their special teams are not good, particularly a penalty kill that ranks 31st. They don’t score enough to cover for breakdowns or mistakes. One reason they still struggle to drive possession is their 42.3 percent win rate in the faceoff circle puts them at league bottom. But they’re 8-8-2 with just 54 goals allowed because of terrific goaltending. Anaheim’s .915 save percentage ranked eighth in the NHL. Lukas Dostal is among the league leaders with a .924. Dostal has also made 14 more saves than expected for the shots he faces. John Gibson has returned from missing several weeks for recovery from appendicitis and has won his first three starts while posting a solid .906. If the Ducks build on their better play as of late, they could make a move up the standings due to some strong netminding. — Eric Stephens
11.9 percent power play: The Bruins have the worst power play in the league. This is not just problematic in terms of team success. That David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand, Charlie McAvoy, Elias Lindholm and Pavel Zacha have not scored enough on the power play has bled into their five-on-five play. This was a big reason Jim Montgomery lost his job. — Fluto Shinzawa
Two combined five-on-five goals from Dylan Cozens and Jack Quinn: Cozens and Quinn were supposed to provide Buffalo’s lineup with the secondary scoring necessary to make this team a contender. Instead through Thursday, they have combined for two five-on-five goals, and Cozens has both of them. Together, they have combined for 12 total points. And the Sabres have just 44 percent of the expected goals when these two are on the ice together at five-on-five. Getting them going again is key to Buffalo’s making a push in the standings. — Matthew Fairburn
.917 team save percentage: The Flames’ goaltending is a huge reason they’ve remained competitive early in the season. Dustin Wolf, in particular, has earned the right to start more games and has vaulted himself into the Calder Trophy discussion. In a year that’s supposed to be one of transition and rebuilding for the Flames, Calgary can say its faith in Wolf is paying off. — Julian McKenzie
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Martin Necas’ 31 points: The story of the Hurricanes’ season through 19 games is Necas’ 31 points. The 25-year-old winger, who was the subject of trade rumors this summer before signing a two-year contract extension as an RFA, ranks third in the league in scoring and is tied for first in power-play points. His hot start has masked Sebastian Aho’s early-season scoring woes: Aho has five goals and only one at five-on-five. — Cory Lavalette
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Outscored 26-16 in the third period: The Blackhawks have just a minus-3 goal differential in the first two periods of games this season. The third, though, has been a challenge for them. Nine of those 16 third-period goals have been empty-netters, but that also tells the story of their season so far. They’ve been in nearly every game, but they haven’t consistently been able to find ways to win them in the third period. — Scott Powers
Nathan MacKinnon leads the NHL with 27 assists and tied for the league lead with 34 points. (Christopher Hanewinckel / Imagn Images)
Nathan MacKinnon’s 27 assists: Things haven’t exactly gone the Avalanche’s way early in this season. Colorado has missed several key players, and the goaltending has struggled tremendously. Despite all of that, the Avalanche are still sitting in a playoff spot — largely thanks to the heroics of MacKinnon. He leads the NHL with 27 assists, tied with Kirill Kaprizov for the league lead with 34 points. MacKinnon is following up his Hart Trophy season with an even more impressive encore. — Jesse Granger
Six goals or more in six games: It will be a successful season in Columbus if its plethora of young forwards establish themselves as impact players in the NHL. So far, so good. Though wildly inconsistent, the Blue Jackets have had stretches when their offensive dynamism has shown through. Six times in 19 games, the Blue Jackets have scored six or more goals in a game. Keep in mind most of that has been done without injured Kent Johnson and Boone Jenner in the lineup. — Aaron Portzline
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2.33 goals-against per game: No team in the NHL has been stingier than the Dallas Stars, who are giving up the least goals per game in the league — a marked improvement from last year’s 2.83 GA per game. Much of that can be traced to Jake Oettinger, who is fifth in the league in GSAx at 9.76 (Casey DeSmith has been excellent, too). The question is, can they keep it up? Dallas is middle of the pack in terms of expected goals against, but it has some wiggle room, considering it’s the third-highest-scoring team in the league, as well, trailing only Colorado and Toronto. — Mark Lazerus
2.53 goals per game: The Red Wings have struggled mightily to score this season, dropping from a top-10 scoring team last season to the bottom 10. This 2.53 figure is nearly a full goal lower than their 2023-24 pace, at 3.35. Even more jarring is that’s all despite a power play clicking to the tune of 30.2 percent, a top-five unit in the league. There’s nuance in why the drop-off has been so significant, including roster changes, an increased emphasis on defensive responsibility, and just plain old struggles to generate and maintain zone time, but the result has been a team that simply hasn’t scored enough — a big reason Detroit has found itself underperforming so far in the standings. — Max Bultman
2.76 goals per game: The Oilers led the NHL in offense at 3.96 goals per game two seasons ago. They were fourth last season at 3.56. Their scoring rate has plummeted through their first 21 games. It’s the most unexpected thing about this team and arguably the biggest reason they’re a mediocre 10-9-2. Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid are the only two forwards producing. They’ve accounted for 24 of the 58 goals the Oilers have scored. No other forward, including now-injured 54-goal scorer Zach Hyman, has more than four. — Daniel Nugent-Bowman
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Sam Reinhart’s 28.85 shooting percentage: Reinhart’s incredible 2023-24 wasn’t a fluke — he’d been a good player for a long time. Still, expecting him to improve on 57 goals would’ve been unreasonable, and yet here he is, tied for the league lead with 15 and on pace for 62. His shooting percentage has somehow increased from 24.26 to 28.85, and his status as one of the league’s pre-eminent snipers has been secured. — Sean Gentille
A 2-5-0 record against over .500 teams: The Kings have collected points over the first quarter of a schedule that’s been road-heavy with 12 of their first 18 games away from Crypto.com Arena, but it’s also been rather light on facing top-tier competition. And they haven’t fared too well when running up against better teams. Wins over Vegas and Minnesota — their best two victories — are the only ones they have in seven games against squads that have a points percentage better than .500. Though a 10-7-3 mark in their first 20 is certainly passable, their lack of notching many triumphs against quality clubs speaks to a team that’s still a couple of sizable steps away from being among the elite. Upcoming home games versus Winnipeg, Dallas and Minnesota will serve to help measure whether they’re an adequate bunch or something more. — Eric Stephens
26 five-on-five goals in 19 games: The Wild are one of the best defensive teams in the NHL, and it’s a huge part of the reason they have the second-most points (29) in the NHL. They are allowing a league-low 1.37 five-on-five goals per game. According to MoneyPuck, the Wild have given up the second-fewest expected five-on-five goals (31.25), a league-low expected five-on-five goals against per 60 minutes (1.64) and a league-low 26 five-on-five high-danger shots against. Filip Gustavsson told The Athletic this week the trust between goaltenders and the skaters is off the charts right now. — Michael Russo
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2.07 expected goals against per 60 at five-on-five: That is the Canadiens’ expected goals against per 60 minutes of five-on-five ice time in eight games in November. In 11 games in October, that number was at 3.79, easily the worst in the league. Had the Canadiens continued playing such porous defense, they would be so far out of the picture by now that any hope of being relevant in December — let alone February or March — would already be long gone. But shoring up their defensive game this month has led to their goaltenders’ playing better and the team’s being more competitive in general, to the point where the Canadiens remain on the cusp of relevancy. It’s a significant step forward from how bad the first three weeks of the season went for them. — Arpon Basu
League-worst minus-17.94 goals for above expected: This team has a top-10 power play, the best penalty kill in the league and an elite goaltender in Juuse Saros with a .917 save percentage. And it’s a bad team, the most disappointing team in the league. Nashville is a five-on-five disaster. Still, it’s 13th in five-on-five expected goals for, which isn’t great but also isn’t disastrous. The inability to convert, for a team with this much proven talent, is truly confounding. — Joe Rexrode
Seven forwards with double-digit points: The Devils bolstered their depth during their busy offseason, adding Paul Cotter and Stefan Noesen via trade and signing. Both are among the team’s forwards with double-digit points, and Noesen is up to 10 goals. The fact New Jersey is getting that level of production from across the lineup is an encouraging sign, especially with high-skill players like Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt contributing big points. — Peter Baugh
Seven tying or go-ahead goals allowed in the final five minutes: The Islanders have done enough to hold a few late leads this season. And somehow, seven times in six games out of the 20 they’ve played this season, they’ve blown it late. Thursday night was the rare double, allowing a tying goal and then a go-ahead goal in the last five minutes of regulation. Call it bad luck, call it a lack of confidence, call it whatever you want — they’ve done it so often this season and last season that it’s mind-boggling. — Arthur Staple
11-0 with Will Cuylle, Filip Chytil and Kaapo Kakko together: The Cuylle-Chytil-Kakko line has been excellent, and the group has remained effective with Jonny Brodzinski filling in for Chytil, who is day to day with an upper-body injury. With Cuylle-Chytil-Kakko on the ice at five-on-five, the Rangers are not only outscoring opponents but also out-chancing them (69-56), outshooting them (80-61) and controlling the expected goal share (65.29 percent), per Natural Stat Trick. That line’s success has been vital in New York’s hot start. It lengthens the lineup dramatically. — Peter Baugh
Linus Ullmark’s .887 save percentage: It’s hard to boil down the Senators’ season in one stat. Despite hovering around the .500 mark, they still need to shed the inconsistencies and deficiencies that have plagued them from years past. Goaltending is at the top of that list. And though Anton Forsberg hasn’t been perfect himself, more blame will be thrown at starting goaltender Ullmark. The Sens need him to be better consistently. — Julian McKenzie
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An .887 team save percentage: No. 1 Sam Ersson has been decent, with a 2.70 goals-against average and a .902 save percentage in 11 games. But he’s missed some time lately due to injury, so the Flyers have had to rely on Ivan Fedotov and Aleksei Kolosov. Though both of them have been a tad better lately, the numbers are still brutal. They’ve combined for a 3-8-0 record (Fedotov has all three wins), with a 3.69 goals-against average and .875 save percentage. It’s not a stretch to suggest that if the Flyers had simply signed a veteran, NHL-worthy backup in the offseason, they’d have at least 4 or 5 more points in the standings. — Kevin Kurz
Five games lost in which they’ve held a 2-0 lead: Blame the leaky goaltending. Blame the horrendous defensive work. Blame the coaching. Blame the forwards for rarely expanding those 2-0 leads. The Penguins’ inability to win games in which they have a multiple-goal lead has been brutal to watch this season. — Josh Yohe
Six goals scored at six-on-five: No team has scored more with a sixth attacker than the Sharks, who also have tallied twice when operating on a six-on-four power play with the goalie pulled. The latest occurred Thursday when Alex Wennberg scored with 8.8 seconds left to force overtime in an eventual shootout loss to St. Louis. It’s reflective of a team that still has to come back from deficits, but the proficiency also speaks to a Sharks club that is much more competitive than last season and has picked up points when it ordinarily shouldn’t. This might not last, and protecting late leads is a preferable option to goalie pull situations, but there’s a resiliency with these Sharks that’s a good thing to have when rebuilding. — Eric Stephens
In Philipp Grubauer’s seven starts this season, the Kraken have won just one game. (Steph Chambers / Getty Images)
Philipp Grubauer’s 1-6-0 record: The Kraken’s playoff chances amid a crowd of Pacific Division hopefuls are being materially harmed by the performance of their expensive backup netminder Grubauer. In Grubauer’s seven starts, the Kraken have won just one game. In Joey Daccord’s 13 starts, the Kraken have won nine games. Sometimes a goaltender’s win-loss record doesn’t tell the full story, but in this case, it’s straightforward. Daccord has managed a .923 save percentage while stopping 8.2 goals saved above average, according to Natural Stat Trick. Grubauer, in contrast, is sporting a .881 save percentage and has permitted over 3.3 goals saved below average. Seattle needs more saves when Daccord gets a game off, or it could sink the Kraken’s season. — Thomas Drance
Trailing by two goals 11 times: The Blues have played 21 games this season and have trailed by two goals or more in 11 of them. They’ve rallied to win a couple of those, but simply put, they have been chasing games entirely too much. The offense is ranked 29th in the NHL (2.43 goals per game) through Thursday and has scored two goals or fewer in 12 of the 21 games. They have no players with more than six goals. So they’re getting behind because of the lack of offense, and they don’t have the firepower to catch up. — Jeremy Rutherford
1.67 goals against per 60: The Lightning seriously missed Ryan McDonagh. Tampa Bay has had the most challenging schedule to open the season, and McDonagh has shouldered one of the toughest workloads in the league as a result. Despite that burden, the Lightning have only given up 2.45 expected goals per 60 in his minutes, with even better results to match (1.67 goals against per 60). McDonagh’s return has revitalized Erik Cernak’s defensive game, giving the team a reliable shutdown second pair again. And that’s made life a lot easier for Victor Hedman, who is averaging the sixth-best Game Score in the league through 18 games at 1.86. — Shayna Goldman
2.5 goals against per game: Last season, the Leafs ranked 21st in the NHL in goals against, yielding more than three goals per game. This season, they’ve leaped into the top 10, just outside the top five, in fact. Through 20 games, they’ve allowed a mere 2.5 goals a night. That’s due to a few things. One, the goaltending has been much improved. Anthony Stolarz, in particular, has impressed. Two, offseason additions like Chris Tanev have made a huge impact, not just at even strength but also on a penalty kill that’s made great strides from last season. And three, first-year head coach Craig Berube has this group playing a simpler, safer overall game. That’s hurt the offense, but it’s helped the defense. — Jonas Siegel
33 goals in their last 16 games: After the team was shut out for a fifth time (!) Thursday against the Bruins, Utah’s offensive drop-off is reaching new lows. After scoring 16 goals in their first three games — all wins — to open the season, the Hockey Clubbers are dead last in the NHL offensively since that point. Their power play has just seven goals on the season, tied for last in the NHL, and is down to 12.7 percent on the year. They also have the worst record in the league since starting 3-0, with just four wins in their last 16 games. Fourth-liner Jack McBain leads all Utah forwards in scoring over this ghastly stretch with just four goals. It’s ugly. — James Mirtle
Minus-2 goal differential: The Canucks have had a rocky start to the season, but not an unsuccessful one. Despite prolonged absences from a Vezina finalist goaltender (Thatcher Demko), an X-factor middle-six forward (Dakota Joshua) and a 40-goal scoring winger (Brock Boeser), the club is in third place in the Pacific Division by point percentage through 18 games. That said, this isn’t a club that’s run nearly as pure as it did last season. That’s best captured by the Canucks’ goal differential, which is narrowly in the red — minus-1 through 18 games — and stands in sharp contrast with what this club accomplished 12 months ago (when it held a league-best plus-30 goal differential through 18 games). What this tells us is that Vancouver’s margin in games has disappeared. We haven’t seen the 8-1 or 10-1 blowouts the Canucks managed in various games early last season. To this point, for a variety of reasons with player health and less fortunate percentages chief among them, the Canucks haven’t had that sort of juice in the early going this season. — Thomas Drance
30.8 percent power play: As successful as the Golden Knights have been from their inception, they’ve never had a strong power play. They’ve always won despite their struggles with a man advantage. This season, the power play is an asset for Vegas, ranked second in the NHL. Everything runs through Jack Eichel, who is off to the best offensive start of his career. Tomas Hertl is an excellent finisher in front of the net, and Pavel Dorofeyev has elevated his game on that unit. It’s the best the power play has ever looked. — Jesse Granger
Plus-24 goal differential at five-on-five: Plenty was made, here and elsewhere, about the Caps’ abysmal overall goal differential last season — and there was no way around it. Minus-37 is a number you see from bottom-feeders, not playoff teams. Credit where it’s due, but something needed to change, and it has, in a big, big way. At five-on-five specifically, the Caps are leading the league with a plus-24 differential. Before Alex Ovechkin’s injury, he and linemates Dylan Strome and Aliaksei Protas were winning their minutes 16-5. — Sean Gentille
14-12 when the top line has been on the ice at five-on-five: That’s the scoreline (as of Thursday) when Winnipeg’s top line of Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele and Gabriel Vilardi has been on the ice together at five-on-five this season. The fact Winnipeg is winning those minutes after a rough start on that front — and after that same line was outscored last season while getting outshot 120-88 — vindicates Scott Arniel’s belief in them and their own commitment to puck management and defense. Connor, Scheifele and Vilardi’s offensive gifts were always meant to impress and they’ve given themselves and their team a lot to be excited about so far. — Murat Ates
(Top photo of Martin Necas: Derek Leung / Getty Images)
