An NHL player can get a lot done in 56 games. Pittsburgh Penguins rookie defenseman John Marino earned a long-term contract extension in 56 games last season. Anaheim Ducks star Ryan Getzlaf tallied 61 points in 56 games in the 2017-18 season.
The NHL's 2020-21 regular season has been shortened to 56 games due to its late start date (Jan. 13) and the impact COVID-19 has had on travel and attendance. It's the shortest regular season since 2012-13, which was whittled down to 48 games after the owners locked out the players.
The leading scorer that season was Martin St. Louis, with 60 points. The leading goal-scorer was Alex Ovechkin, with 32 tallies. Without the benefit of 82 games, the NHL's collection of season-scoring records are likely safe.
But what about scoring and goaltending benchmarks for 56 games?
Courtesy of the Elias Sports Bureau's data, ESPN looked into the best 56-game runs for goal-scoring, point-producing and stopping the puck in NHL history, within a single season. Elias Sports Bureau also dug up some modern standards for 56-game stretches, with the best performances of the past 20 years.
Can the stars of the 2020-21 NHL season match or surpass these performances? Will records still fall in a 56-game season? Let's take a look.
Goals
Hockey fans have been robbed of many things in these two COVID-19-impacted seasons, including the pursuit of history. Ovechkin begins the 2020-21 season with 706 career goals, in eighth place all time. The 35-year-old, Washington Capitals captain is 188 goals behind Wayne Gretzky's all-time NHL record. Catching Gretzky remains an attainable feat, but losing 12 games last regular season and having 26 games lopped off this season shortens that runway.
Then again, Ovechkin has shown he's capable of cramming a lot of offense into a 56-game sprint. The Capitals' winger has the two best 56-game, goal-scoring stretches in the regular season over the past 20 years:
48: Alex Ovechkin, Capitals, 2007-08
47: Alex Ovechkin, Capitals, 2008-09
47: Jonathan Cheechoo, Sharks, 2005-06
46: Pavel Bure, Panthers, 2000-01
Of course, these marks were at the height of his goal-scoring powers. Ovechkin scored 65 goals in 2007-08 and 56 goals in 2008-09, the two highest totals of his career. But he's still got it: Ovechkin's goals-per-game average last season was 0.71, the highest it had been since 2008-09. He finished tied for the NHL lead (48) in 2019-20 with David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins.
Two players to watch this season for goals: Toronto's Auston Matthews, whose goals-per-game average jumped to 0.67 last season, a career high; and Buffalo's Jack Eichel, whose average crested over 0.50 for the first time (0.53) and who should have Taylor Hall on his wing this season to bolster it even higher.
But the most goals in a 56-game stretch in a single season? That mark is held by the man Ovechkin is chasing.
75: Wayne Gretzky, Oilers, 1981-82
72: Wayne Gretzky, Oilers, 1983-84
65: Brett Hull, Blues, 1990-91
Technically, Gretzky had stretches of 75 goals in 56 games twice in the 1981-82 season, in which he scored his NHL single-season record 92 goals: From Oct. 27, 1981, through Feb. 28, 1982; and from Oct. 28, 1981, through March 2, 1982. (He also had two stretches of 56 games that season in which his goal total was 74.)
The NHL hasn't had a 70-goal campaign in an 80-plus-game season since 1993, so we'll just assume that Gretzky's 75 goals in 56 games won't be threatened this year. Especially since, you know, goalies and defense have improved slightly since the early 1980s.
Points
The last time the NHL's scoring leader had fewer than 100 points was in 2014-15, when Jamie Benn won the Art Ross Trophy with 87 points in 82 games. Can someone break the century mark in a 56-game season? While not probable, it's not impossible, as one Tampa Bay Lightning star showed us just two years ago.
Here are the best 56-game, point-producing stretches since the 2000-01 season:
101: Nikita Kucherov, Lightning, 2018-19
95: Sidney Crosby, Penguins, 2006-07
92: Jaromir Jagr, Penguins, 2000-01
91: Leon Draisaitl, Oilers, 2019-20
91: Connor McDavid, Oilers, 2018-19
Kucherov ended up with 128 points that season, the highest point total for an NHL player since the 1995-96 season (Mario Lemieux, with 161). So, yes, it's possible to break 100 points in 56 games if a player rips off a 1.80 points-per-game average like Kucherov did. Alas, we won't get a chance to see if Kucherov can do it again, as he's expected to miss the regular season after hip surgery.
As far as the all-time "points in 56 games" mark, it should come as no surprise that this is also Mr. Gretzky's Neighborhood:
169: Wayne Gretzky, Oilers, 1983-84
165: Wayne Gretzky, Oilers, 1981-82
154: Mario Lemieux, Penguins, 1988-89
In the 1983-84 season, Gretzky had the following 56-game stretches: 169 points from Oct. 7 to Feb. 22; 168 points from Nov. 2 to March 17; 166 points from Oct. 30 to March 15, Oct. 9 to Feb. 24 and Oct. 5 to Feb. 25; and 165 points from Oct. 26 to March 11.
Lemieux's 154 points in 56 games is actually the next player not named Gretzky on the list, but the list between The Great One's 169 points and the Pittsburgh great's total was lengthy. In either case, the 56-game points record is likely safe in the NHL of 2021.
Wins
While some goalies flaunt wins as a mark of excellence, it's a stat inexorably tied to team success. Hence, it should come as no surprise that Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy has led the league in wins the past three seasons -- with 35 last season, 39 in 2018-19 and 44 in 2017-18, sharing the latter with Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets.
What's the best 56-game stretch for winning goalies in the past 20 years? Vasilevskiy had one of the best runs:
42: Braden Holtby, Capitals, 2015-16
41: Pekka Rinne, Predators, 2017-18
40: Sergei Bobrovsky, Blue Jackets, 2016-17
40: Andrei Vasilevskiy, Lightning, 2017-18
Holtby had 48 wins in total in 2015-16, while Rinne had 42 wins in total in 2017-18.
In theory, goalies could post some impressive win totals during a 56-game stretch. But given the nature of this truncated season, with more back-to-back games and less down time in general, it's expected that even teams with workhorse goalies are going to use their backup netminders more often.
(Elias did not provide all-time leaders in wins over 56-game stretches.)
Shutouts
NHL teams have averaged over three goals per game in each of the past two seasons, with that number climbing slightly to 3.02 in the truncated 2019-20 campaign, up from 3.01 the season prior.
In a 56-game season played in mostly empty buildings against divisional opponents only, it's difficult to extrapolate what kind of offensive season to expect. Does familiarity breed fireworks or more tightly played games, given the ramifications for postseason qualification?
If the games do get closer and more defensive, perhaps some goalies will have a chance to challenge the top shutout totals for a 56-game stretch over the past 20 years:
11: Martin Brodeur, Devils, 2006-07
11: Henrik Lundqvist, Rangers, 2010-11
11: Dominik Hasek, Sabres, 2000-01
See, it's super easy: Just be as good or better than three of the greatest goaltenders in NHL history. Brodeur, Lundqvist and Hasek all ended their respective seasons with 11 shutouts.
What about the all-time shutout mark for a 56-game stretch for a goalie? That's held by a Hall of Famer whose NHL career started in 1926:
22: George Hainsworth, Canadiens, 1928-29
As 56-game records go, this all-time mark comes closest to untouchable. Keep in mind that in the 48-game lockout season of 2012-13, goalie Ondrej Pavelec of the Jets was the league leader, with 44 games played. If a goalie got that many starts in a 56-game season, that would mean he would need to shut out his opponents in 50% of those starts. Good luck with that.
Then again, nothing about this unprecedented season is going to surprise us. Let's get weird, NHL!