from Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazete (before the Saturday night games),

Eight players are on pace to score 50 or more goals, which is downright nuts when you consider that the NHL has had a total of nine 50-plus-goal seasons from 2009-18.

At his current pace, Washington’s Alex Ovechkin (29 goals in 34 games before Saturday) is projected to score 70. Although he has missed time and can’t possibly sustain his current pace (19 in 21), Toronto’s Auston Matthews is tracking toward 62.

Buffalo’s Jeff Skinner (57), Winnipeg’s Patrik Laine (54), Toronto’s John Tavares (54), Colorado’s Gabriel Landeskog (52), Boston’s David Pastrnak (52) and San Jose’s Joe Pavelski (50) are on pace to meet or exceed the 50-goal mark mark....

“It’s turned into more of a puck-pursuit game than a puck-possession game,” Sullivan said.

One tangible thing teams are doing more is something the Penguins first experimented with a couple of years ago — the high flip.

That’s when a player, usually a defenseman, will send the puck vertically toward a specific area and a teammate, usually a fast one, will try to chase it down.

“They punt and hunt, as we say,” Sullivan said.

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