McDavid, Draisaitl, Pastrnak dominated statistical categories in 2019

NHL.com goes behind the numbers to identify the 10 most notable statistics from the calendar year dating Jan. 1, 2019 through Dec. 27, 2019.

Goals

One of the most prominent individual statistics to measure success is goals, where Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl ranks first during the calendar year with 51 in 83 games. Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin is second with 45 in 81 games and Boston Bruins forwards David Pastrnak (65 games) and Brad Marchand (79 games) are tied with 43 each. It's worth noting that Pastrnak has the best goals-per-game average of the group at 0.66.

Assists

Oilers center Connor McDavid had the most assists with 79 in 80 games, nine more assists than Marchand. More surprising however was Carolina Hurricanes forward Teuvo Teravainen, who is tied with Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks for sixth in assists with 64 during the calendar year while mostly skating Carolina's top line with center Sebastian Aho. Teravainen and Aho quietly have emerged as one of the top statistical duos in the NHL during the past two seasons.

Points

McDavid also led the NHL with 120 points (41 goals, 79 assists) in 80 games since Jan. 1, three more than Draisaitl's 117 (51 goals, 66 assists). Marchand is third with 113 points (43 goals, 70 assists) in 79 games. This trend should continue during any timeframe for McDavid, who has 386 points (133 points, 253 assists) since the start of the 2016-17 season, 33 more points than Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov, who is second with 353 points (133 goals, 220 assists). Marchand is third with 324 points (128 goals, 196 assists).

Power-play points

When it comes to the man-advantage, McDavid and Kucherov finished tied for first since Jan. 1 with 42 power-play points each and it's no coincidence that the Lightning finished with the best power play during that span at 28.3 percent, and the Oilers were third at 25.2 percent. The Bruins were second at 25.8 percent.

Power-play goals

Pastrnak's 20 power-play goals since Jan. 1 led the NHL, and it's noteworthy considering he played nine fewer games than Tampa Bay Lightning forward Steven Stamkos, and 16 fewer than Ovechkin, each of whom tied for second with 18 power-play goals.

Even-strength points

McDavid and Kane are tied for the led the NHL with 76 even-strength points since Jan. 1. Draisaitl is third with 75, which is encouraging for the future of the Oilers. Another interesting skater to crack the top 10 in the calendar year is Artemi Panarin of the New York Rangers who was sixth with 64 even-strength points. Even more impressive is that Panarin did not skate with an elite linemate like McDavid and Draisaitl did.

Shooting percentage

Brett Connolly of the Florida Panthers had the highest shooting percentage (20.7) among forwards to play at least 50 games since Jan. 1. Shooting percentage isn't necessarily a stat that skaters want to be leading in, as it often signals regression coming. One way for Connolly to avoid this would be to increase his shot volume to account for a dip in shooting percentage to his career average (14.4 percent).

Wins

What St. Louis Blues goalie Jordan Binnington did last season was nothing short of impressive and his numbers have held strong through the calendar year, where he ranks first with 41 wins in 57 games. Part of the reason Binnington has two more wins than second-place Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Lightning could be his .931 even-strength save percentage, which is better than Vasilevskiy's .923.

Even-strength save percentage

Ben Bishop of the Dallas Stars had the best even-strength save percentage (.939) among goalies to play at least 45 games in the calendar year. It's worth pointing out that Bishop played 47 games, 15 fewer than second-place Darcey Kuemper of the Arizona Coyotes (.937).

Shot attempts (individual & team)

Montreal Canadiens right wing Brendan Gallagher led all players since Jan. 1 with a plus-428 5-on-5 shot-attempts differential, which means that the Canadiens attempted 428 more shots than their opponents when Gallagher was on the ice. Second on the list is Canadiens forward Tomas Tatar at plus-391, indicating the Canadiens forwards dominate puck possession.
The Canadiens led the NHL in 5-on-5 shot-attempts differential at plus-637, with the Hurricanes second at plus-607. The positive possession metrics are encouraging for the Canadiens because nine of the top 10 teams in 5-on-5 SAT last season qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The team that missed, however, was the Canadiens, who were fourth at plus-662.