Advertisement

This is amazing: With another multipoint game last night versus the Florida Panthers, marking his 18th and 19th points in his past 11 games, Phil Kessel now sits fourth in points over the past three seasons. He’s only four points back of first-placed Evgeni Malkin, meaning Kessel becoming the scoringest player in the National Hockey League in the past three seasons (start of 2011-12 to current) is an actual possibility, should he finish the season strong (-er than the other guys).

RkPlayerGPGAPTSSS%
1Evgeni Malkin1487312019356412.9
2John Tavares1858211019262413.1
3Claude Giroux1795713419152610.8
4Phil Kessel1858410518966512.6
5Martin St. Louis1786711918644015.2
6Patrick Kane1857111018157412.4
7Steven Stamkos1471037417752019.8
8Alex Ovechkin1751086817679613.6
9Joe Thornton1843313917230910.7
10Sidney Crosby1115011716737213.4

Un-frickin’-real, and it speaks to the evolution of this complete, elite offensive threat, as he’s also in the top-15 in assists over the past three seasons (tied for 14th with 105). Kessel’s 84 goals since October, 2011 place him third behind only Steven Stamkos and Alex Ovechkin. This is about as consistent as one can be.

Taking it back to 2008-09, Kessel is tied for 5th in goals in the past five years (behind only Marleau, Perry, Stamkos, Ovechkin). This would include dark periods for his team such as when he was playing with Tyler Bozak as a rookie and Joey Crabb on his opposite wing.

courtesy @ryanclassic

As we’re getting into the Olympic spirit, Phil Kessel is also the top American goal scorer over those five seasons with 182 goals, leading next-best Bobby Ryan by a wide margin of 21 goals. He is the second-highest American point scorer in the past five years with 368, behind only Patrick Kane. He is first, ahead of Kane, in point scoring among Americans since the start of the 2011-12 season.

As good day as any to stop by the Temple of The Phil and pay your respects.

Previous articleMaple Leafs recall Greg McKegg
Next articleClaude Loiselle talks Fraser trade, Leafs cap situation
Alec Brownscombe is the founder and editor of MapleLeafsHotStove.com, where he has written daily about the Leafs since September of 2008. He's published five magazines on the team entitled "The Maple Leafs Annual" with distribution in Chapters and newsstands across the country. He also co-hosted "The Battle of the Atlantic," a weekly show on TSN1200 that covered the Leafs and the NHL in-depth. Alec is a graduate of Trent University and Algonquin College with his diploma in Journalism. In 2014, he was awarded Canada's Best Hockey Blogger honours by Molson Canadian. You can contact him at alec.brownscombe@mapleleafshotstove.com.