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Photo credit: Sporting Charts
He didn't quite get to 40 goals in the regular season, but considering he missed 9 games to injury and took almost 10 after returning to get back to his regular self, I think it's pretty safe to say we can asterisk this as a 40 goals season for Max Pacioretty.
It's too bad that Pacioretty is such a soft, perimeter player, as you can see by his complete lack of shots on goal from the goalmouth area on the chart to the right. Imagine how many goals Pacioretty could score if he was willing to pay the price in front of the net! (In case you somehow don't know, this is sarcasm. If you think Pacioretty is a perimeter player, you're dumb.)
Pacioretty finished fourth in the NHL in goalscoring, the highest mark any Canadiens player has achieved since Guy Lafleur finished third in the league behind Mike Bossy and Marcel Dionne in 1978-79. The level of Pacioretty's accomplishment is difficult to overstate, especially when you consider that among the top eleven goal scorers in the NHL this season, he had the least ice time per game, and played four or more fewer games than anyone else.
Who has Pacioretty scored on this year?
| Craig Anderson | 4 goals |
| Jonathan Bernier | 4 goals |
| Empty Net | 4 goals |
| Roberto Luongo | 3 goals |
| Marc-Andre Fleury | 3 goals |
| Josh Harding | 3 goals |
| Martin Brodeur | 2 goals |
| Tuukka Rask | 2 goals |
| Cam Ward | 2 goals |
| Dan Ellis | 2 goals |
| Evgeni Nabokov | 1 goal |
| Mike Smith | 1 goal |
| Marek Mazanec | 1 goal |
| Kari Lehtonen | 1 goal |
| Anton Khudobin | 1 goal |
| Jonas Hiller | 1 goal |
| James Reimer | 1 goal |
| Matt Hackett | 1 goal |
| Jimmy Howard | 1 goal |
| Jonas Gustavsson | 1 goal |