I think we all now that "empty-net scoring culture" (thank you) has changed in pro-hockey over the past 5 or 10 years. As someone noted, it used to be that coaches would only pull the goalie with maybe 90 seconds or less to play, and then usually only if down by maybe one goal.
Also, it used to be that players were generally frowned upon for trying to score into the empty-net unless it was a total 'gimme' (because missing would result in icing).
These factors have changed, maybe due to analytics or whatever, but nowadays coaches pull the goalies way earlier and they seem to encourage players to shoot on the empty-net, as obviously scoring an insurance goal pretty much seals a win. And if you have your top players on, the odds of them completing passes and scoring on the empty-net are higher than if your grinders are on.
So, the fact that empty-net scoring has gone up doesn't surprise me at all, given these factors.
However, what does surprise me a bit about Kucherov last year and Rantanen / MacKinnon (so far) this year is that they're putting up these record empty-net point totals... and their respective teams aren't that good.
That is, I would have thought that in order to score a record point total on empty nets, you would have to face a relatively huge number of empty nets compared to other clubs. Thus, I would have thought only top players on the top 3 or 4 teams would even have the possibility of setting those records. But last year, the Lightning were just 'good' (bad-ish in the first half) and this year the Avalance are likewise just 'good'. So, presumably, there are several clubs who have faced empty nets more often than the Lightning last year or the Avs this year, yet nobody has come close to Kuch's "record" or the Avs' stars pace this season.
So... what I'd like to know is: How many times did the Lightning face an empty net last season in total, and how many times have the Avs faced an empty net so far this season?