Look at the teams that are true contenders this season, of them I think the biggest trend is scoring depth.
Philledelphia - nine players with five or more goals, all between 7 and 16, all forwards
Detroit - leading the West have ten players with five or more goals - all between 5 and 14
Vancouver - leading the northwest have ten players with 5 or more goals - all between 5 and 16
Boston - have nine players five 5 or more goals - all forwards between 5 and 16
Pittsburgh - you would think the east leading Penguins with Captain Crosby at the helm would buck the trend, even without Evgeny Malkin for large parts of the season, noted for their lack of scoring depth, but to my surprise they also have ten players with 5 or more goals, however Crosby does have a league leading 26.
Ovi's Caps mired in an unthinkable eight game losing streak have fallen from grace and only have six players with five ore more goals, one of those d-man mike green.
It's not really an exact science but it's a telling sign; if you have depth players that can pick up the slack when your top line guys are having an off game you're a more dangerous team, whether you're a noted high offense team or a Boston, with stingy defense, you still have to score to win and balanced scoring helps. The biggest reason I believe is it's cumulitive, if your depth are an offensive threat than who do you roll your top checking line out against? Can really wreak havoc on opposition.
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