Zach Werenski set the top skating distance in a single game (5.16 miles) by any NHL player this season in the Columbus Blue Jackets' 4-3 shootout win against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena on Monday.
Werenski also tied his career-best mark (also skated 5.16 miles against Los Angeles Kings on March 4, 2022) for the third-longest distance total of any regular-season game during the puck and player tracking era (since 2021-22). The only players who have skating a longer distance in a regular-season game are Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers (5.40 miles against St. Louis Blues on Dec. 15, 2022) and Thomas Chabot of the Ottawa Senators (5.20 miles at Philadelphia Flyers on Dec. 18, 2021).
Werenski also leads the NHL in total skating distance this season (276.13 miles), and his single-game mark surpassed Nashville Predators defenseman Roman Josi, who skated 4.79 miles on Jan. 16 against the Chicago Blackhawks.
The 27-year-old also skated 2.04 miles in the third period Monday, the highest total in a single period of a regular-season game and the second-highest of the tracking era (McDavid skated 2.25 miles in the third period against the Vancouver Canucks during the Stanley Cup Playoffs on May 12, 2024). Werenski surpassed Chabot's single-period regular-season skating distance mark of 2.01 miles from the third period against the San Jose Sharks on Oct. 21, 2021.
Werenski, one of the top candidates for the Norris Trophy this season as the top defenseman in the NHL, played 33:44 on Monday, the most ice time of any player in the League this season and the third-highest single-game total in Blue Jackets regular-season history, behind two games by Jack Johnson in 2012-13 (34:59, 34:13).
With the Blue Jackets in the thick of the Eastern Conference wild-card race, Werenski has been a dominant force all season and ranks among the best defensemen in many other key advanced stats categories:
• Top skating speed: 23.08 miles per hour (94th percentile)
• 20-plus mph speed bursts: 143 (99th percentile; 3rd in NHL behind Cale Makar, Jake Sanderson)
• High-danger shots on goal: 32 (99th percentile; 1st in NHL)
• High-danger goals: 6 (99th percentile; tied for 1st in NHL with Makar)
• Midrange shots on goal: 69 (99th percentile; 2nd in NHL behind Makar)
• Midrange goals: 10 (99th percentile; tied for 2nd in NHL behind Jakob Chychrun)
• Long-range shots on goal: 75 (93rd percentile)
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