We all love a good fright on Oct. 31, and there's no shortage of scary statistics through the first few weeks of the NHL season.
Here are four of the most frightening:
Boo-urns
(Photo courtesy: Action Images)
Last season, Brent Burns led all defensemen in goals (29) and points (76), and the Norris Trophy winner ranked first among all players with 320 shots on goal.
In 11 games this season, however, the San Jose Sharks standout has fired 51 shots on goal without a single tally to show for his efforts.
To put that in perspective, Burns is on pace to obliterate his shot total from last season. He's averaging 4.6 per game, which would amount to 380 over a full season. At that rate, if he were to return to the 9.1 shooting percentage reached in 2016-17, he'd be good for close to 35 goals by season's end.
If the pucks starts bouncing his way, this Shark will bite hard.
Jackets firing blanks
Columbus have jumped out to a respectable record of 8-4-0, a bit of a miracle considering how bad the power play has been.
The Blue Jackets have converted on only three of their 35 opportunities, giving them a success rate of 8.6 percent and putting them well at the bottom of the league rankings.
The next most futile teams on the man advantage are the Oilers and Ducks, both of whom have made good on 12.1 percent of their power plays. Even last year's woefully bad Avalanche managed to hit 12.6 percent, finishing 30th.
In 2016-17, Columbus finished with 108 points and boasted a power-play percentage of 19.9. The Blue Jackets are currently tied for the fourth-best point total despite their poor efforts with an extra man, and will be a force to be reckoned with when this stat begins to correct itself.
Porous Penguins
(Photo courtesy: Action Images)
Much has been made of the holes in the Pittsburgh Penguins' back end this season, and for good reason.
Their 50 goals allowed is the second highest among all teams, and only one less than an Arizona team that just won its first game.
The reasons for this are many: Injuries on the blue line, a complete and utter lack of backup goaltending, Matt Murray's .903 save percentage, and a vicious schedule that features 19 back-to-back scenarios.
There's time to fix some of the above, but in the meantime, any and all talk of a threepeat should be put on hold.
Another rough October for Andersen
Thanks to an offense that can't be stopped, the Toronto Maple Leafs are seen by many as a legitimate contender in the Eastern Conference. For them to be taken truly seriously, though, Frederik Andersen will need to once again shake the October blahs.
Much like last year, he's gotten off to a shaky start, but the hope is he'll once again find his form as the season goes on.
| October Save% | Rest of Season Save % | |
|---|---|---|
| 2016-17 | .876 | .922 |
| 2017-18 | .896 | TBD |
The Leafs' sticks have been covering for deficiencies in net and of those directly in front of Andersen, but this treat will turn into a trick real fast if not tidied up.
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