The Panther
Registered User
About five years ago, I made a thread about players' 30-point months in the NHL (regular season). We came up with lists of players/seasons where a player scored 30 points or more in a calendar month (that is, any month from October through March). Now that Hockey Ref. has this information more easily available back to October 1979, it seems I can list most of them here (along with goals/assists splits, and plus/minus) from then to now. Naturally, this feat was rare if not non-existent before expansion, and then much more frequent in the high-scoring era. And of course 30 points in 1982 isn't the same as in 2001 or whatever, but I think we can all keep things in context. Three guesses which player has the most 30+ point seasons...?? Now is a good time to update this, too, because a player achieved it last season for the first time in 16 seasons (17 years)!
I'll probably miss some, but I'll list as many as I can from my own search and from various posters' suggestions from the previous thread. (The parenthetical is games played, goals, assists, and plus/minus):
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - FROM OCTOBER 1967 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1967-68 = No one (?)
31 Phil Esposito -- January 1969 (14GP: 9G, 22A +20)
1969-70 = No one (?)
31 Phil Esposito -- December 1970 (14GP: 19G, 12A +10)
31 Bobby Orr -- March 1971 (15GP: 8G, 23A +26)
1971-72 = No one (?)
32 Phil Esposito -- March 1973 (15GP: 15G, 17A +6)
1973-74 = No one (?)
30 Phil Esposito -- December 1974 (13GP: 15G, 16A +3)
35 Bobby Clarke -- March 1975 (15GP: 7G, 28A +24)
30 Rick MacLeish -- March 1975 (15GP: 13G, 17A +16)
1975-76 = No one (?)
1976-77 = No one (?)
31 Bryan Trottier -- November 1977 (15GP: 14G, 17A +18)
30 Guy Lafleur -- February 1978 (13GP: 9G, 21A +15)
36 Bryan Trottier -- December 1978 (14GP: 16G, 20A +26)
30 Wayne Gretzky -- March 1980 (13GP: 14G, 16A +8)
35 Wayne Gretzky -- January 1981 (14GP: 10G, 25A +11)
31 Kent Nilsson -- January 1981 (16GP: 10G, 21A +6)
30 Marcel Dionne -- January 1981 (15GP: 15G, 15A +5)
30 Wayne Gretzky -- February 1981 (14GP: 15G, 15A +14)
34 Wayne Gretzky -- March 1981 (14GP: 11G, 23A +14)
37 Wayne Gretzky -- November 1981 (13GP: 18G, 19A +19)
44 Wayne Gretzky -- December 1981 (14GP: 19G, 25A +12)
38 Wayne Gretzky -- January 1982 (15GP: 17G, 21A +14)
35 Wayne Gretzky -- February 1982 (11GP: 15G, 20A +20)
34 Mike Bossy -- February 1982 (14GP: 11G, 23A +21)
32 Bryan Trottier -- February 1982 (14GP: 17G, 15A +23)
30 Wayne Gretzky -- March 1982 (13GP: 10G, 20A +10)
35 Wayne Gretzky -- November 1982 (13GP: 12G, 23A +12)
32 Wayne Gretzky -- December 1982 (13GP: 10G, 22A +2)
36 Wayne Gretzky -- January 1983 (15GP: 14G, 22A +11)
36 Wayne Gretzky -- March 1983 (13GP: 15G, 21A +17)
31 Stan Smyl -- March 1983 (16GP: 10G, 21A +7)
30 Darcy Rota -- March 1983 (16GP: 15G, 15A +8)
49 Wayne Gretzky -- November 1983 (14GP: 17G, 32A +32)
36 Jari Kurri -- November 1983 (14GP: 16G, 20A +19)
37 Wayne Gretzky -- December 1983 (13GP: 12G, 25A +8)
30 Bryan Trottier -- December 1983 (14GP: 14G, 16A +22)
40 Wayne Gretzky -- January 1984 (13GP: 19G, 21A +22)
30 Wayne Gretzky -- October 1984 (10GP: 11G, 19A +26)
38 Wayne Gretzky -- November 1984 (14GP: 13G, 25A +17)
40 Wayne Gretzky -- December 1984 (12GP: 16G, 24A +21)
30 Jari Kurri -- December 1984 (12GP: 13G, 17A +22)
37 Wayne Gretzky -- January 1985 (15GP: 13G, 24A +18)
44 Wayne Gretzky -- December 1985 (14GP: 8G, 36A +16)
43 Wayne Gretzky -- January 1986 (15GP: 12G, 31A +10)
30 Mike Bossy -- January 1986 (13GP: 12G, 18A +9)
33 Wayne Gretzky -- February 1986 (11GP: 7G, 26A +13)
31 Mario Lemieux -- February 1986 (12GP: 13G, 18A -1)
37 Wayne Gretzky -- March 1986 (14GP: 6G, 31A +23)
33 Wayne Gretzky -- October 1986 (12GP: 11G, 22A +14)
36 Wayne Gretzky -- December 1986 (13GP: 18G, 18A +18)
35 Wayne Gretzky -- January 1987 (14GP: 10G, 25A +23)
32 Wayne Gretzky -- March 1987 (15GP: 7G, 25A +7)
34 Wayne Gretzky -- November 1987 (13GP: 11G, 23A +13)
32 Steve Yzerman -- December 1987 (15GP: 12G, 20A +12)
35 Mario Lemieux -- January 1988 (16GP: 17G, 18A +6)
38 Wayne Gretzky -- March 1988 (14GP: 5G, 33A +9)
36 Mario Lemieux -- March 1988 (14GP: 11G, 25A +9)
32 Hakan Loob -- March 1988 (14GP: 15G, 17A +16)
38 Mario Lemieux -- October 1988 (11GP: 16G, 22A +14)
31 Wayne Gretzky -- November 1988 (14GP: 10G, 21A +5)
30 Steve Yzerman -- November 1988 (13GP: 17G, 13A +15)
30 Bernie Nicholls -- November 1988 (14GP: 17G, 13A +17)
43 Mario Lemieux -- December 1988 (14GP: 19G, 24A +12)
33 Steve Yzerman -- December 1988 (14GP: 12G, 21A 0)
31 Wayne Gretzky -- December 1988 (13GP: 9G, 22A +10)
30 Bernie Nicholls -- December 1988 (14GP: 9G, 21A +7)
33 Mario Lemieux -- January 1989 (12GP: 11G, 22A +6)
30 Mario Lemieux -- March 1989 (13GP: 18G, 12A -1)
1989-90 = No one
30 Wayne Gretzky -- January 1991 (13GP: 10G, 20A +5)
30 Adam Oates -- January 1991 (13GP: 6G, 24A +7)
30 Brett Hull -- February 1991 (13GP: 17G, 13A, +4)
30 Wayne Gretzky -- February 1991 (14GP: 5G, 25A +9)
30 Adam Oates -- February 1991 (14GP: 7G, 23A -2)
33 Wayne Gretzky -- March 1991 (14GP: 4G, 29A +8)
37 Mario Lemieux -- December 1991 (14GP: 11G, 26A +6)
36 Pat Lafontaine -- January 1992 (14GP: 19G, 17A +6)
31 Luc Robitaille -- February 1992 (15GP: 16G, 15A +3
30 Wayne Gretzky -- February 1992 (14GP: 8G, 22A +6)
36 Mario Lemieux -- March 1992 (13GP: 12G, 24A +9)
36 Mario Lemieux -- October 1992 (11GP: 16G, 20A +8)
30 Pat Lafontaine -- October 1992 (11GP: 10G, 20A, +4)
36 Mario Lemieux -- December 1992 (12GP: 8G, 28A +11)
37 Mario Lemieux -- March 1993 (13GP: 18G, 19A +12)
30 Pavel Bure -- March 1994 (16GP: 19G, 11A +5)
1995 work-stoppage season = No one
32 Mario Lemieux -- November 1995 (11GP: 13G, 19A +7)
30 Jaromir Jagr -- November 1995 (14GP: 13G, 17A, +14)
34 Mario Lemieux -- December 1995 (14GP: 12G, 22A +5)
32 Jaromir Jagr -- December 1995 (14GP: 13G, 19A, +6)
1996-97 = No one
- - - - - - - - - - - - - DEAD PUCK ERA, from OCTOBER 1997 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1997-98 = No one
1998-99 = No one
1999-00 = No one
31 Jaromir Jagr -- March 2001 (15GP: 15G, 16A +7)
2001-02 through 2017-18 (16 seasons) = No one
30 Nikita Kucherov -- December 2018 (14GP: 9G, 21A +7)
NOTES:
-- Wayne Gretzky scored 30+ points in one month an unfathomable 36 times. (He is the only player I can find who did this in 1979-80, but that seems unlikely. He is certainly the only player to do it in 1986-87, and he did it four times!)
-- Gretzky and Mario Lemieux are (not surprisingly) the only players since 1979 to scored 40+ points in one month -- Gretzky six times, Lemieux once.
-- Besides Gretzky and Lemieux, Jari Kurri & Pat Lafontaine (each with 36, once each) are the only players to score 35+ points in one month since October 1979.
-- Gretzky scored a staggering, all-time record 49 points in November 1983... while going +32 that same month.
-- Speaking of plus/minus, Mario (twice) and Adam Oates are the only players to achieve the rather unique feat of scoring 30+ points in one month while being a 'minus' at even-strength.
-- Stan Smyl & Darci Rota in 1982-83 must be the most stunning and surprising names on this list.
-- Marcel Dionne missed doing this (again) by one point in 1983-84 and again by one point in 1984-85.
-- Jari Kurri missed by just one point, in December 1985, doing this for a third time.
-- Likewise, Paul Coffey missed by one point in December 1985.
-- Kevin Stevens missed by one point in October 1992.
-- Sergei Fedorov missed by one point in December 1993.
-- By the way, when Teemu Selanne scored his record 20 goals in a calendar month (in 14 games in March 1993), he picked up "only" 7 assists, for 27 points (prior to that, in January 1993, he'd also had 27 points in one month).
-- It's interesting that nobody, as far as I know, scored 30+ points in a month during 1989-90, the only season from 1979 (or earlier) through 1993-94 when this never occurred.
-- Players who have never done this: Mark Messier, Paul Coffey, Peter Stastny, Denis Savard, Dale Hawerchuk, Doug Gilmour, Joe Sakic, Alex Mogilny, Sergei Fedorov, Joe Thornton, Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Connor McDavid
Unless someone can correct me, the 30-point month has occurred only twice in the past 23 (almost 24) years, once by Jagr at the height of the DPE, and last season by Kucherov... Which makes me think that since it's obviously too difficult for modern-era players to score 30+ points in one month, maybe somebody should do a separate list of 25+ point months from 1997 forward. What do you think? For example, while Crosby has never had a 30-point month, he has had three 25+ point months.
Again, I've likely still missed a few during this era, and I'm not even bothering to try with the 1978-79 or earlier period. But if you know any for certain, tell me, and I'll keep updating this list. For example, Bobby Orr is a possibility in a couple seasons, and I'm sure Phil Esposito did it at least a few times. Possibly Guy Lafleur, etc.
I'll probably miss some, but I'll list as many as I can from my own search and from various posters' suggestions from the previous thread. (The parenthetical is games played, goals, assists, and plus/minus):
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - FROM OCTOBER 1967 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1967-68 = No one (?)
31 Phil Esposito -- January 1969 (14GP: 9G, 22A +20)
1969-70 = No one (?)
31 Phil Esposito -- December 1970 (14GP: 19G, 12A +10)
31 Bobby Orr -- March 1971 (15GP: 8G, 23A +26)
1971-72 = No one (?)
32 Phil Esposito -- March 1973 (15GP: 15G, 17A +6)
1973-74 = No one (?)
30 Phil Esposito -- December 1974 (13GP: 15G, 16A +3)
35 Bobby Clarke -- March 1975 (15GP: 7G, 28A +24)
30 Rick MacLeish -- March 1975 (15GP: 13G, 17A +16)
1975-76 = No one (?)
1976-77 = No one (?)
31 Bryan Trottier -- November 1977 (15GP: 14G, 17A +18)
30 Guy Lafleur -- February 1978 (13GP: 9G, 21A +15)
36 Bryan Trottier -- December 1978 (14GP: 16G, 20A +26)
30 Wayne Gretzky -- March 1980 (13GP: 14G, 16A +8)
35 Wayne Gretzky -- January 1981 (14GP: 10G, 25A +11)
31 Kent Nilsson -- January 1981 (16GP: 10G, 21A +6)
30 Marcel Dionne -- January 1981 (15GP: 15G, 15A +5)
30 Wayne Gretzky -- February 1981 (14GP: 15G, 15A +14)
34 Wayne Gretzky -- March 1981 (14GP: 11G, 23A +14)
37 Wayne Gretzky -- November 1981 (13GP: 18G, 19A +19)
44 Wayne Gretzky -- December 1981 (14GP: 19G, 25A +12)
38 Wayne Gretzky -- January 1982 (15GP: 17G, 21A +14)
35 Wayne Gretzky -- February 1982 (11GP: 15G, 20A +20)
34 Mike Bossy -- February 1982 (14GP: 11G, 23A +21)
32 Bryan Trottier -- February 1982 (14GP: 17G, 15A +23)
30 Wayne Gretzky -- March 1982 (13GP: 10G, 20A +10)
35 Wayne Gretzky -- November 1982 (13GP: 12G, 23A +12)
32 Wayne Gretzky -- December 1982 (13GP: 10G, 22A +2)
36 Wayne Gretzky -- January 1983 (15GP: 14G, 22A +11)
36 Wayne Gretzky -- March 1983 (13GP: 15G, 21A +17)
31 Stan Smyl -- March 1983 (16GP: 10G, 21A +7)
30 Darcy Rota -- March 1983 (16GP: 15G, 15A +8)
49 Wayne Gretzky -- November 1983 (14GP: 17G, 32A +32)
36 Jari Kurri -- November 1983 (14GP: 16G, 20A +19)
37 Wayne Gretzky -- December 1983 (13GP: 12G, 25A +8)
30 Bryan Trottier -- December 1983 (14GP: 14G, 16A +22)
40 Wayne Gretzky -- January 1984 (13GP: 19G, 21A +22)
30 Wayne Gretzky -- October 1984 (10GP: 11G, 19A +26)
38 Wayne Gretzky -- November 1984 (14GP: 13G, 25A +17)
40 Wayne Gretzky -- December 1984 (12GP: 16G, 24A +21)
30 Jari Kurri -- December 1984 (12GP: 13G, 17A +22)
37 Wayne Gretzky -- January 1985 (15GP: 13G, 24A +18)
44 Wayne Gretzky -- December 1985 (14GP: 8G, 36A +16)
43 Wayne Gretzky -- January 1986 (15GP: 12G, 31A +10)
30 Mike Bossy -- January 1986 (13GP: 12G, 18A +9)
33 Wayne Gretzky -- February 1986 (11GP: 7G, 26A +13)
31 Mario Lemieux -- February 1986 (12GP: 13G, 18A -1)
37 Wayne Gretzky -- March 1986 (14GP: 6G, 31A +23)
33 Wayne Gretzky -- October 1986 (12GP: 11G, 22A +14)
36 Wayne Gretzky -- December 1986 (13GP: 18G, 18A +18)
35 Wayne Gretzky -- January 1987 (14GP: 10G, 25A +23)
32 Wayne Gretzky -- March 1987 (15GP: 7G, 25A +7)
34 Wayne Gretzky -- November 1987 (13GP: 11G, 23A +13)
32 Steve Yzerman -- December 1987 (15GP: 12G, 20A +12)
35 Mario Lemieux -- January 1988 (16GP: 17G, 18A +6)
38 Wayne Gretzky -- March 1988 (14GP: 5G, 33A +9)
36 Mario Lemieux -- March 1988 (14GP: 11G, 25A +9)
32 Hakan Loob -- March 1988 (14GP: 15G, 17A +16)
38 Mario Lemieux -- October 1988 (11GP: 16G, 22A +14)
31 Wayne Gretzky -- November 1988 (14GP: 10G, 21A +5)
30 Steve Yzerman -- November 1988 (13GP: 17G, 13A +15)
30 Bernie Nicholls -- November 1988 (14GP: 17G, 13A +17)
43 Mario Lemieux -- December 1988 (14GP: 19G, 24A +12)
33 Steve Yzerman -- December 1988 (14GP: 12G, 21A 0)
31 Wayne Gretzky -- December 1988 (13GP: 9G, 22A +10)
30 Bernie Nicholls -- December 1988 (14GP: 9G, 21A +7)
33 Mario Lemieux -- January 1989 (12GP: 11G, 22A +6)
30 Mario Lemieux -- March 1989 (13GP: 18G, 12A -1)
1989-90 = No one
30 Wayne Gretzky -- January 1991 (13GP: 10G, 20A +5)
30 Adam Oates -- January 1991 (13GP: 6G, 24A +7)
30 Brett Hull -- February 1991 (13GP: 17G, 13A, +4)
30 Wayne Gretzky -- February 1991 (14GP: 5G, 25A +9)
30 Adam Oates -- February 1991 (14GP: 7G, 23A -2)
33 Wayne Gretzky -- March 1991 (14GP: 4G, 29A +8)
37 Mario Lemieux -- December 1991 (14GP: 11G, 26A +6)
36 Pat Lafontaine -- January 1992 (14GP: 19G, 17A +6)
31 Luc Robitaille -- February 1992 (15GP: 16G, 15A +3
30 Wayne Gretzky -- February 1992 (14GP: 8G, 22A +6)
36 Mario Lemieux -- March 1992 (13GP: 12G, 24A +9)
36 Mario Lemieux -- October 1992 (11GP: 16G, 20A +8)
30 Pat Lafontaine -- October 1992 (11GP: 10G, 20A, +4)
36 Mario Lemieux -- December 1992 (12GP: 8G, 28A +11)
37 Mario Lemieux -- March 1993 (13GP: 18G, 19A +12)
30 Pavel Bure -- March 1994 (16GP: 19G, 11A +5)
1995 work-stoppage season = No one
32 Mario Lemieux -- November 1995 (11GP: 13G, 19A +7)
30 Jaromir Jagr -- November 1995 (14GP: 13G, 17A, +14)
34 Mario Lemieux -- December 1995 (14GP: 12G, 22A +5)
32 Jaromir Jagr -- December 1995 (14GP: 13G, 19A, +6)
1996-97 = No one
- - - - - - - - - - - - - DEAD PUCK ERA, from OCTOBER 1997 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1997-98 = No one
1998-99 = No one
1999-00 = No one
31 Jaromir Jagr -- March 2001 (15GP: 15G, 16A +7)
2001-02 through 2017-18 (16 seasons) = No one
30 Nikita Kucherov -- December 2018 (14GP: 9G, 21A +7)
NOTES:
-- Wayne Gretzky scored 30+ points in one month an unfathomable 36 times. (He is the only player I can find who did this in 1979-80, but that seems unlikely. He is certainly the only player to do it in 1986-87, and he did it four times!)
-- Gretzky and Mario Lemieux are (not surprisingly) the only players since 1979 to scored 40+ points in one month -- Gretzky six times, Lemieux once.
-- Besides Gretzky and Lemieux, Jari Kurri & Pat Lafontaine (each with 36, once each) are the only players to score 35+ points in one month since October 1979.
-- Gretzky scored a staggering, all-time record 49 points in November 1983... while going +32 that same month.
-- Speaking of plus/minus, Mario (twice) and Adam Oates are the only players to achieve the rather unique feat of scoring 30+ points in one month while being a 'minus' at even-strength.
-- Stan Smyl & Darci Rota in 1982-83 must be the most stunning and surprising names on this list.
-- Marcel Dionne missed doing this (again) by one point in 1983-84 and again by one point in 1984-85.
-- Jari Kurri missed by just one point, in December 1985, doing this for a third time.
-- Likewise, Paul Coffey missed by one point in December 1985.
-- Kevin Stevens missed by one point in October 1992.
-- Sergei Fedorov missed by one point in December 1993.
-- By the way, when Teemu Selanne scored his record 20 goals in a calendar month (in 14 games in March 1993), he picked up "only" 7 assists, for 27 points (prior to that, in January 1993, he'd also had 27 points in one month).
-- It's interesting that nobody, as far as I know, scored 30+ points in a month during 1989-90, the only season from 1979 (or earlier) through 1993-94 when this never occurred.
-- Players who have never done this: Mark Messier, Paul Coffey, Peter Stastny, Denis Savard, Dale Hawerchuk, Doug Gilmour, Joe Sakic, Alex Mogilny, Sergei Fedorov, Joe Thornton, Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Connor McDavid
Unless someone can correct me, the 30-point month has occurred only twice in the past 23 (almost 24) years, once by Jagr at the height of the DPE, and last season by Kucherov... Which makes me think that since it's obviously too difficult for modern-era players to score 30+ points in one month, maybe somebody should do a separate list of 25+ point months from 1997 forward. What do you think? For example, while Crosby has never had a 30-point month, he has had three 25+ point months.
Again, I've likely still missed a few during this era, and I'm not even bothering to try with the 1978-79 or earlier period. But if you know any for certain, tell me, and I'll keep updating this list. For example, Bobby Orr is a possibility in a couple seasons, and I'm sure Phil Esposito did it at least a few times. Possibly Guy Lafleur, etc.
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