NHL

Looking Back on Patrick Kane and Wayne Gretzky's Historic Scoring Streaks

Jeff Hicks  —  @skcih_ffej Dec 16th, 2015
Patrick Kane and Wayne Gretzky own their respective North American country's scoring streaks, but what went into each?

Chicago Blackhawks right winger Patrick Kane may no longer have his scoring streak, but in the process, he broke the Chicago Blackhawks' and American record.

Kane's streak doesn't truly compare to Wayne Gretzky’s impressive 51-game streak during the 1983-84 season, but it does not mean we can’t take a look at the two historical marks.

Numbers to Know

26 – Games, the length of Kane’s scoring streak. He tallied 16 goals and 40 points, leads the NHL in scoring, and has a point in 29 of 32 games this season for the Hawks. Gretzky potted 61 goals and 153 points -- he averaged 3 points per game -- during his streak.

506 – Goals scored in the games during Wayne Gretzky’s streak, good for a 9.9 average per game. The average goal total per game during the 1983-84 season was 3.83.

137 – Goals scored in games during Patrick Kane’s streak. 5.26 goals were scored per game, and overall, 2.46 goals are being scored per game during the 2015-16 season.

349 – Individual points awarded during Kane’s 23-game scoring streak. This includes goals, primary assists and secondary assists. 13.4 individual points were averaged per game.

1,304 – Points scored individually during Gretzky’s streak, an average of 25.6 points per game. The lowest points awarded in a single game during his streak were four, and the most was 53, a 12-8 Oilers win over the Minnesota North Stars. This also indicates how much easier it was for ‘The Great One’ to earn just one point in each game to extend his streak. Remember, 13.4 points were awarded on average during Patrick Kane’s streak, a stark contrast. He was competing against 37 other players (goalies score points, too) in an era where goals were much harder to get and still put together the best streak in over 20 years.

4 – Shutouts posted by Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford during Patrick Kane’s streak. Two of Crawford’s shutouts came in games that went to overtime in which Kane scored. ‘Crow’ stopped 50 shots during those two contests and 105 over the four shutouts.

It is fitting that Kane’s streak ended against the Colorado Avalanche on a shutout at the hands of Semyon Varlamov, who had a career 1.93 goals against average against the Blackhawks going into Tuesday night’s game.

We may never see a scoring streak like the one Wayne Gretzky had, but here’s to hoping a new streak captures the attention of NHL fans and gives us the opportunity to enjoy rehashing the past.