Opening Season Streaks in the NHL

Dougie Hamilton has hit his shots on goal line in 5 straight games to start the season - but he faces Carolina, who ranked 3rd in the NHL in shots on goal against per game, and ranked in that same spot in the early going this NHL season. So, we won’t be looking at Hamilton tonight, even with his hot start.

And there’s Jonathan Marchessault, who’s gone over his 2.5 shots on goal line in every game for his new team but is still without a goal. He plays Seattle, who allowed both of Minnesota Wild's top 6 right wingers to score on them this weekend, and have allowed 3 goals per game this season. Can he score his first as a Predator?

This is a newsletter to highlight how hit rates aren’t everything, and that there’s plenty of data on individual player pages to help you make the most educated decision night and night out.

Mark Stone - Vegas Golden Knights

Stone is off to a hot start, with 6 points in his first 3 games.

And tonight he faces Washington, who couldn’t defend last year and were unable to defend in their first game of the season in a 5-3 loss on Saturday night. For real, watch these two New Jersey goals and count how many Capital players are within 2 to 3 feet of the puck.

I count 3 here, you could even say they had 4 players back.

This one was even worse, with two players all over Tatar. Stone has started his season against Colorado, St. Louis, and Anaheim, who all averaged over 3 goals per game against when you combined last season and this season, so Stone should be able to keep his start going tonight.

Nikita Kucherov - Goals

Nikita Kucherov picked up from last season exactly where he left off - he had 4 points in the opening game of the NHL season for the Lightning, and without Stamkos, he’s officially “the guy” in Tampa.

Kucherov faces the Canucks, who have given up 8 goals in their first two games. They’re starting playoff hero Arturs Stilovs, the Vancouver goalie who’s allowed 6 of their 8 goals. And 3 of Kucherov’s 4 points in game one, were goals. Not a bad way to start a season 👀

Jack Eichel - Assists

Jack Eichel has doubled up his assists-to-games ratio, with 6 assists through 3 games.

And it’s the same reasoning as Stone, this Washington defense was not great last season and is off to a not-great start this season.

The Capitals have given up 6 assists to centers this season, 4 of which went to Rangers center Mika Zibanejad. Eichel should be able to find the scoresheet tonight against this subpar Capitals defense.