NHL Standings ordered by shooting percentage: Sabres rocking and rolling

The Sabres still aren’t looking great in the NHL Standings as of Friday morning, but the real question is, why? To better answer the question, let’s check out one important metric in which they’re not having such a tough time at the moment, and that’s via shooting percentage, where they rank in the top half of the league. 

Knowing this, it’s likely save percentage and shots against, the latter of which they don’t rank so well on, are the culprits. But instead of focusing on the negatives, let’s check out the positives and recognize just how well Buffalo has been scoring lately when they’re giving themselves chances against the rest of the league. 

The 15 Club

• Vegas Golden Knights - 15.4 
• Washington Capitals - 15.2

Vegas and Washington are the best in their respective conferences in the metric as of Friday morning. For the latter, it’s been a surprise, considering how much they struggled to score last year, but it would be more surprising if they didn’t boast as good of an offseason. 

12 through 14

• Tampa Bay Lightning - 14.0
• Winnipeg Jets - 13.9
• NY Rangers - 13.6
• Columbus Blue Jackets - 13.3
• Calgary Flames - 13.0
• Minnesota Wild - 12.5
• Ottawa Senators - 12.4

The Tampa Bay Lightning ranking so high never surprised me, nor did the NY Rangers. But the rest of the teams on this list deserve recognition over the first handful of contests this season. Winnipeg is known more for its defense and goaltending, so to see them ranked well is rather shocking, but not to the same extent as Columbus, Calgary, Minnesota, and Ottawa, all of whom you’d expect to rank at least one tier lower. 

Lucky 11’s

• Colorado Avalanche - 11.8
• Buffalo Sabres - 11.7
• Detroit Red Wings - 11.6
• Vancouver Canucks - 11.6
• New Jersey Devils - 11.1
• Seattle Kraken - 11.0
• Dallas Stars - 11.0

The Colorado Avalanche are starting to look like they’re back on track, and you can credit their ability to score. Buffalo ranks 11th overall here, and much of the reasoning has come following their scoring struggles in Games 1 through 3. 

Detroit, we knew, could put up some goals, and the same goes for Vancouver, New Jersey, and Dallas. Other than the Sabres, the other team I wouldn’t have thought to have climbed too highly is the Seattle Kraken.

Double-Digits

• St. Louis Blues - 10.9
• Utah Hockey Club - 10.6
• Boston Bruins - 10.6
• Pittsburgh Penguins - 10.3
• Montreal Canadiens - 10.1
• Florida Panthers - 10.0
• LA Kings - 10.0

The St. Louis Blues were a team I saw hanging around in the single digits, but a pair of newcomers have helped ensure otherwise. Ditto for the Utah Hockey Club, LA Kings, and Montreal Canadiens, even if I like the way all three teams should have been trending in this category. 

As for the Florida Panthers and Boston Bruins? I expected better, while the Pittsburgh Penguins are the true wild card. Pittsburgh was a team I believed would be really good or really bad in the metric, but right now, they’re one of the league’s more middle-of-the-road teams. 

Ground to make up

• Anaheim Ducks - 9.4
• Carolina Hurricanes - 9.2
• Chicago Blackhawks - 8.9
• Toronto Maple Leafs - 8.8
• Philadelphia Flyers - 8.0
• San Jose Sharks - 7.1
• NY Islanders - 6.6
• Nashville Predators - 6.4
• Edmonton Oilers - 6.2

Once again, a few shockers here, starting with the Toronto Maple Leafs and ending with the Edmonton Oilers. Meanwhile, teams like the Anaheim Ducks, Chicago Blackhawks, Philadelphia Flyers, San Jose Sharks, and NY Islanders are those you’d expect to be ranked so low. 

The two wild cards here are the Carolina Hurricanes, who lost talent, and the Nashville Predators, who signed a lot of aging talent. This isn’t to say both teams won’t improve early on here in this metric, but it’s not totally surprising that they’re ranked so low.