When we last checked in with Shayne Gostisbehere, he was riding a 13-game point streak, the longest ever by a rookie defenseman. In fact, he was just one game back of Brian Leetch for longest point streak by a defenseman, period, sine 1996-97 – back when little Shayne was just three years old – and had tied Nathan MacKinnon’s rookie point streak from 2013-14.
Well, tried as the Toronto Maple Leafs may have, they ultimately couldn’t contain him, and now, Gostisbehere is up to 15 games in a row. You’re next, Hurricanes. (Knock on wood.)
Paul Stastny’s record of a 20-game point streak – the most by any rookie ever – remains in sight.
In the meantime, via the Elias Sports Bureau, here’s what Gostisbehere has added to his resume on this insane rookie season:
- Leetch had a 14-game point streak; pfft, whatever. Now Gostisbehere is tied with Chris Chelios for the longest defensive point streak since 1995-96 – Gostisbehere was two – at 15. Let’s pass him. (Wood, knocked.)
- Way back when, we were listing Gostisbehere’s overtime accomplishments; now, he’s the first-ever rookie to score four overtime goals in one season.
- He’s also the second-ever defenseman to score four overtime goals in one season. The first guy? Some loser named Scott Niedermayer you’ve probably never herd of, who did it in 2001-02.
Okay, so you can bust out the overtime argument. Games from way back when didn’t go to overtime, but considering how all of these records Gostisbehere is tying or setting are coming against players not too far off from his own era, it’s a null argument. He’s doing amazing.
And you can make the 3-on-3 argument – but, predictably, teams have adapted to 3-on-3 overtime as it’s gone on. The All-Star Game resulted in 20 minutes of 3-on-3 where it looked like players were genuinely trying and there was still only one goal to be had; I mean, I think we’ve all adapted to it by now.
Gostisbehere hasn’t even scored an overtime goal since Dec. 15, against… oh… Carolina. Well, isn’t that nice, knock on wood.
