A YouTube video about the fastest goals to start a period sparked me to look for the fastest Tampa Bay Lightning goals to start a period, especially after the video featured a Cedric Paquette 19 seconds into a period. That led me to records.NHL.com which I was not aware existed. In the past I’ve gone to Hockey-Reference.com when looking for interesting tidbits and records, not being aware that this part of the NHL web site exists. So I decided to dig in and try and find some records that are relevant to the Lightning.
Fastest Goal from the start of the game
Dino Ciccarelli and Ruslan Fedotenko share this record for the Lightning at eleven seconds, which is impressive but doesn’t even crack the top 100 in league history (it’s 110th). Ciccarelli did it in 1996-97 against the Washington Capitals in a 4-1 win. Fedotenko completed the feat in 2005-06, also against the Washington Capitals in a 5-0 win. Both games were at home. Nikita Kucherov holds the record among active Lightning players with a goal thirteen seconds in during 2019-20 against the Buffalo Sabres, also at home, in a 5-2 win. Blake Coleman also had a goal thirteen seconds into a game less than three months later with the New Jersey Devils before he came to the Lightning.
Fastest Goal from the start of any period
Mikael Andersson set the franchise record in 1993-94 and Ruslan Fedotenko tied it in 2005-06 at nine seconds. Unlike the start of the game records, both of these came on the road. Andersson’s came nine seconds into overtime for a 3-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets (the original version). Fedotenko’s came in the second period of a 6-5 overtime loss to the Florida Panthers. The current active player record is Ondrej Palat in 2014-15 with a goal ten seconds into the third period at the San Jose Sharks, a 5-2 Lightning win.
Fastest Two Goals from start of game
Teddy Purcell owns this record for the Lightning and it happens to be pretty high up the NHL leaderboard as well. He scored 2 goals 81 seconds from the start of a game against the Philadelphia Flyers in 2010-11, and the goals were 62 seconds apart. This is tied for tenth fastest in NHL history and came at home in 4-0 win. It’s also the fastest since 2002-03 when Mike Knuble set the NHL record with 2 goals in the first 27 seconds of the game for the Boston Bruins.
Fastest Two Goals at any time
Steve Downie holds the Lightning record from 2011-12. He scored two goals 11 seconds apart, which is tied for 75th fastest in the NHL. His two goals came in the first period in a 4-2 loss at the Pittsburgh Penguins. The leader among current (for the moment), active Lightning players is Tyler Johnson in 2016-17 when he scored 2 goals in the third period against the Chicago Blackhawks that were 30 seconds apart.
Fastest Three Goals at any time
Brayden Freaking Point! In 2018-19, in a 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, Point set a franchise record taking just 91 seconds off the clock to score three goals. It was the fastest time in the league since Derek King scored three goals in 78 seconds in 1991-92, and that’s only the 4th fastest. The other four of the top five were set in the 1910s, 1920s, and twice in the 1950s, including the record of 21 seconds set by Bill Mosienko with the Chicago Blackhawks in 1951-52.
Fastest Three Assists at any time
Nikita Freaking Kucherov! Kucherov reached the top of the leaderboard twice in 2018-19. The first time he posted three assists in 91 seconds in November, 2018 in a 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins (yes it’s the same game Point set the fastest three goals record). This put himself at the 14th fastest ever. He later bumped that down to the 15th fastest, when he did it again in 75 seconds in February, 2019 against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
That tied him for 9th all time in NHL history and the fastest since Wilf Paiement with the Quebec Nordiques set the second fastest mark at 29 seconds in 1984-85. Coincidentally, the fastest is 21 seconds by Gus Bodnar, and was achieved in the above record by Mosienko scoring three goals in 21 seconds. Martin St. Louis previously held the Lightning record with 167 seconds in 2008-09.
Longest Goal Scoring Streak in a Season
Brian Bradley holds the record for the Lightning with an eight game streak in 1992-93. This is tied for 47th longest all-time in the NHL. The Lightning’s leader among active players is Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov with a seven game goal scoring streak and is tied for 88th longest all-time. Stamkos set his record in 2009-10 with nine goals in a seven game streak. Kucherov set his record in 2017-19 with eight goals in a seven game streak.
Longest Goal Scoring Streak from the start of a season
Kucherov’s above seven game scoring streak actually came at the start of the 2017-18 season. For this record, he’s tied for the eighth longest in NHL history and is the longest since Mike Bossy started the 1984-85 season with a ten game goal scoring streak.
Longest Goal Scoring Streak by a defenseman from the start of a season
Some of the lists on the NHL Records site are actually quite short. The longest goal scoring streak by a defenseman is only 25 players long and stops at 5 games. The list containing season-starting streaks is only six players long and the record-holder’s streak is only four games long. Guess who showed up on this list? Victor Freaking Hedman! With a three game goal streak to start the 2014-15 season, he’s tied for the second longest such streak in NHL history. The most recent player before him to tie the record was Calle Johansson in 1992-93 with the Washington Capitals.
Longest Assists Streaks in a season
Brad Richards and Martin St. Louis both show up on this list with 10 game assist streaks which are tied for the 56th longest all-time. St. Louis is on the list twice having accomplished it in 2006-07 and 2009-10. Richards accomplished the feat in 2005-06.
Longest Assist Streak from start of season
Steven Stamkos holds this one with a five game streak to start the 2012-13 season. During that streak, he scored three goals, seven assists, and ten points.
Longest Assist Streak from start of season by a defenseman
Three Lightning defensemen show up on this list with a four game streak to start a season. Pavel Kubina accomplished it in 2002-03. Paul Ranger followed up by tying the record in 2007-08. Hedman joined the list in 2019-20 with a four game streak of his own. This record is tied for 25th all-time in the NHL.
Longest Point Streak in a Season
Steven Stamkos leads the way with an 18 game point streak in 2009-10. And what an insane streak it was. He scored 17 goals and 16 assists for 33 points over an 18 game span. Wowza. His 18 game streak is tied for 40th most all-time. I actually thougth Kucherov had tied or beat this record at some point, but his career best is twelve games, which he has done twice, in 2018-19 and 2019-20.
Longest Point Streak from Start of a Season
There are some familiar names here. Martin St. Louis set the franchise record in 2009-10 with an eleven game streak. Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos tied the record together to start the 2017-18 season with eleven game point streaks of their own.
Longest Point Streak to start a career
Cory Conacher. Remember when he burst onto the scene in 2012-13 coming out of the lockout? He recorded points in four straight games scoring two goals and seven points to set the Lightning franchise record, which is tied for 38th all time in the NHL.
Youngest Player Tidbits
- Chris Gratton is the youngest Lightning player and the 25th youngest all-time to score his first goal at 17 years, 107 days.
- Chris Gratton is the youngest Lightning player and the 26th youngest all-time to record his first three point game at 17 years, 198 days. Steven Stamkos comes in at 44th all time at 18 years, 266 days.
- Vincent Lecavalier is the youngest Lightning player and the 54th all-time to record his first four point game at 19 years, 255 days. Gratton is right behind him at 19 years, 257 days. Stamkos did not record his first until the ripe old age of 20 years, 257 days.
- Roman Hamrlik is the Lightning’s youngest, and the 16th all-time youngest defenseman to score his first goal at 18 years, 191 days. Victor Hedman is 43rd all-time at 18 years, 352 days.
- Hedman is the Lightning’s youngest, and the 16th all-time youngest defenseman to record first three point game at 19 years, 55 days. Hamrlik did not achieve that until he was 19 years, 362 days (45th all-time).
- Paul Mara is the youngest Lightning defenseman, and the 29th all-time, to record his first four-point game at 21 years, 59 days old./
Most Goals in First 50 games of season
The hunt for 50 goals in 50 games is a narrative that has come up more than a few times in recent history, especially during the Alex Ovechkin Era. It’s still a rare feat to achieve and has only been done eight times by five different players. Here are the Lightning best first 50 game performances in goals, assists, and points.
- Steven Stamkos is the franchise leader with 38 goals in 2010-11. The current leader among active NHL players is Ovechkin with 39 goals in 2007-08. Ovechkin also had a season of 33 goals in 50 games. Brian Bradley had 32 goals in 1992-93. Vincent Lecavalier (twice), Martin St. Louis, and Brayden Point have had 30 goals in the first 50 games./
