I'm going to do these, I assure you. It might take a while to do all of them, and some of them might be pretty low on information, but they'll be making a comeback in the next day or two in full force.
I figured it might be interesting to look at a simple list of all the first goals scored so far this year, which teams have the most, and the rate at which they occur. Perhaps I'm a bit naively surprised at the distribution of them so far... I figured they would slow down a bit, but that hasn't really happened.
# |
Player |
Date |
Team |
Against |
Nat. |
1 |
Jordan Eberle |
Oct 7 |
Oilers |
Flames |
|
2 |
Derek Stepan |
Oct 9 |
Rangers |
Sabres |
|
3 |
Tyler Seguin |
Oct 10 |
Bruins |
Coyotes |
 |
4 |
Nick Leddy |
Oct 11 |
Blackhawks |
Sabres |
 |
5 |
Nino Niederreiter |
Oct 13 |
Islanders |
Capitals |
|
6 |
Eric Tangradi |
Oct 15 |
Penguins |
Islanders |
 |
7 |
Matt Taormina |
Oct 15 |
Devils |
Avalanche |
 |
8 |
Jordan Caron |
Oct 16 |
Bruins |
Devils |
 |
9 |
Magnus Paajarvi |
Oct 16 |
Oilers |
Flames |
|
10 |
Cam Fowler |
Oct 17 |
Ducks |
Coyotes |
 |
11 |
Marcus Johansson |
Oct 19 |
Capitals |
Bruins |
 |
12 |
Jeff Skinner |
Oct 20 |
Hurricanes |
Kings |
 |
13 |
Andrei Loktionov |
Oct 20 |
Kings |
Hurricanes |
|
14 |
John McCarthy |
Oct 23 |
Sharks |
Oilers |
 |
15 |
Kyle Wilson |
Oct 25 |
Blue Jackets |
Flyers |
 |
16 |
Dana Tyrell |
Oct 27 |
Lightning |
Penguins |
 |
17 |
Taylor Hall |
Oct 28 |
Oilers |
Blue Jackets |
 |
18 |
Matt Martin |
Oct 29 |
Islanders |
Canadiens |
 |
19 |
Alex Burmistrov |
Oct 29 |
Thrashers |
Sabres |
 |
20 |
David Liffiton |
Oct 30 |
Avalanche |
Blue Jackets |
 |
21 |
Mattias Ritola |
Oct 30 |
Lightning |
Coyotes |
 |
22 |
Brad Marchand |
Nov 3 |
Bruins |
Sabres |
 |
23 |
Jon Matsumoto |
Nov 3 |
Hurricanes |
Islanders |
 |
24 |
Bradley Mills |
Nov 3 |
Devils |
Blackhawks |
 |
25 |
Kyle Palmieri |
Nov 3 |
Ducks |
Lightning |
 |
26 |
David Van Der Gulik |
Nov 4 |
Avalanche |
Canucks |
 |
27 |
Phillippe Dupuis |
Nov 6 |
Avalanche |
Stars |
 |
28 |
Theo Peckham |
Nov 11 |
Oilers |
Red Wings |
 |
29 |
Mario Bliznak |
Nov 11 |
Canucks |
Senators |
|
30 |
Alexander Vasyunov |
Nov 12 |
Devils |
Oilers |
 |
31 |
Mattias Tendenby |
Nov 12 |
Devils |
Oilers |
 |
32 |
Deryk Engelland |
Nov 12 |
Penguins |
Lightning |
 |
33 |
Greg Mauldin |
Nov 12 |
Avalanche |
Blue Jackets |
 |
34 |
Kevin Shattenkirk |
Nov 17 |
Avalanche |
Sharks |
 |
35 |
Mike Moore |
Nov 17 |
Sharks |
Avalanche |
 |
36 |
Alec Martinez |
Nov 24 |
Kings |
Canadiens |
 |
37 |
Brandon McMillan |
Nov 27 |
Ducks |
Coyotes |
 |
38 |
Justin Braun |
Dec 2 |
Sharks |
Senators |
 |
39 |
Luke Adam |
Dec 7 |
Sabres |
Bruins |
 |
40 |
Johan Harju |
Dec 7 |
Lightning |
Flames |
 |
41 |
Jeremy Morin |
Dec 8 |
Blackhawks |
Stars |
 |
42 |
Michael Sauer |
Dec 9 |
Rangers |
Senators |
 |
43 |
Kyle Clifford |
Dec 9 |
Kings |
Flames |
 |
44 |
Nick Spaling |
Dec 13 |
Predators |
Islanders |
 |
45 |
Derek Joslin |
Dec 13 |
Sharks |
Stars |
 |
46 |
Mark Fayne |
Dec 15 |
Devils |
Coyotes |
 |
47 |
Evgeny Dadonov |
Dec 15 |
Panthers |
Hurricanes |
 |
48 |
Tommy Sestito |
Dec 15 |
Blue Jackets |
Canucks |
 |
49 |
Linus Omark |
Dec 16 |
Oilers |
Blue Jackets |
 |
50 |
Aaron Volpatti |
Dec 20 |
Canucks |
Blues |
 |
51 |
Andrew Gordon |
Dec 21 |
Capitals |
Devils |
 |
52 |
Ben Lovejoy |
Dec 22 |
Penguins |
Panthers |
 |
53 |
Ryan O`Marra |
Dec 26 |
Oilers |
Canucks |
 |
54 |
Steven Kampfer |
Dec 28 |
Bruins |
Lightning |
 |
55 |
Mike Weber |
Dec 28 |
Sabres |
Oilers |
 |
56 |
Luca Sbisa |
Dec 28 |
Ducks |
Coyotes |
 |
57 |
Brett MacLean |
Dec 29 |
Coyotes |
Kings |
 |
58 |
Tomas Tatar |
Dec 31 |
Red Wings |
Islanders |
 |
59 |
Daryl Boyce |
Jan 1 |
Maple Leafs |
Senators |
 |
60 |
Zac Dalpe |
Jan 1 |
Hurricanes |
Devils |
 |
61 |
Alexandre Bolduc |
Jan 2 |
Canucks |
Avalanche |
 |
62 |
Clayton Stoner |
Jan 4 |
Wild |
Devils |
 |
63 |
Mats Zuccarello |
Jan 5 |
Rangers |
Hurricanes |
|
64 |
Patrice Cormier |
Jan 7 |
Thrashers |
Maple Leafs |
 |
65 |
Matt Calvert |
Jan 8 |
Blue Jackets |
Kings |
 |
66 |
Jan Mursak |
Jan 10 |
Red Wings |
Avalanche |
|
67 |
David Desharnais |
Jan 12 |
Canadiens |
Penguins |
 |
68 |
Ryan Reaves |
Jan 12 |
Blues |
Ducks |
 |
69 |
Trevor Gillies |
Jan 13 |
Islanders |
Senators |
 |
70 |
Vladamir Zharkov |
Jan 17 |
Devils |
Islanders |
 |
71 |
Oilver Ekman-Larsson |
Jan 17 |
Coyotes |
Sharks |
 |
72 |
Sergei Shirokov |
Jan 18 |
Canucks |
Avalanche |
 |
Breakdown by nation: Canada - 35; USA - 18; Sweden - 7; Russia - 6; Switzerland - 2; Slovakia - 2; Norway - 1; Slovenia - 1.
Breakdown by month: October - 21; November - 16; December - 20; January - 14 (in 20 days).
Teams with most First NHL Goals for: Edmonton Oilers and New Jersey Devils (6 each), Colorado Avalanche (5).
Teams with most First NHL Goals against: Phoenix Coyotes (6), Colorado Avalanche, New York Islanders, Ottawa Senators (5 each).
Teams with no First NHL Goals for: Calgary Flames, Dallas Stars, Ottawa Senators, Philadelphia Flyers.
The country breakdown reflects the reality of today's NHL: most of the rookies coming up are North American, with Swedes and Russians leading the European pack. That might surprise some people, but chances are if a Russian skater has been signed, he's close to playing at the NHL level. Five of the Russians spent some time in the AHL this year, with only Alex Burmistrov having stuck full-time at the NHL level. No Czechs have scored their first NHL goal, but their only hope is either for a goalie to score, or the sparingly used Red Wings defenseman Jakub Kindl. The Finns might have to wait for the call-up of a player like Oskar Osala or Ilari Filppula for this year.
The pace of goals definitely surprised me, but I suppose it makes sense. Most First NHL Goals are scored by AHL call-ups, as most 'rookies' that crack opening day rosters had an audition with the team the year before, and may have gotten their first NHL goal already. The Devils, who have had a lot of injuries in addition to being a terrible team, have been forced to use players without much NHL experience, so they lead the way along with the Oilers, who had a number of players on their roster that hadn't played a NHL game before.
The AHL is even more North American than the NHL is, so expect even a greater skew towards North American first time goal scorers as the season rolls on. Although it might be noteworthy that we could easily have two Norwegian first time goal scorers without any Finnish first timers, as Colorado blueliner Jonas Holos is currently awaiting his breakthrough goal. And although it may be a little to point out, good on tiny Slovenia for producing their second ever NHL player, Jan Mursak of the Detroit Red Wings.
EDIT: Added Andrew Gordon; did I miss anyone else?
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