Dear Sabres faithful. This is another article you ain’t gonna like, because, as data is king, it shows off a major flaw in the Blue and Gold’s game. Below, I’ve listed all 32 teams as of early Saturday afternoon by one stat: shooting percentage.
While points matter more than anything else in the NHL Standings, ranking teams like the Sabres against the rest of the league by a certain metric shows that they’re one of the better teams in the league in something good. But, the question is, if the Sabres rank so highly in shooting percentage, why are they still one of the worst teams in the league?
Check out the list below, and you’ll find that the lowly Sabres are tied for seventh in the NHL in shooting percentage alongside the Los Angeles Kings and the surprising Columbus Blue Jackets.
Sabres are one of the best teams in the league in shooting percentage
But here’s the catch: The list shows you that the Sabres are clearly one of the best in the league when they decide to shoot the puck. But that’s just it: They’re in the bottom 10 when it comes to shooting, with just 1,127 shots on goal.
- Washington Capitals, 13.1
- Tampa Bay Lightning, 13.0
- Winnipeg Jets, 12.7
- Montreal Canadiens, 11.8
- Colorado Avalanche, 11.5
- Vancouver Canucks, 11.5
- Los Angeles Kings, 11.4
- Columbus Blue Jackets, 11.4
- Buffalo Sabres, 11.4
- Vegas Golden Knights, 11.3
- Toronto Maple Leafs, 11.0
- Detroit Red Wings, 10.9
- Pittsburgh Penguins, 10.8
- Carolina Hurricanes, 10.7
- Florida Panthers, 10.7
- Minnesota Wild, 10.6
- Dallas Stars, 10.6
- St. Louis Blues, 10.6
- Philadelphia Flyers, 10.6
- Seattle Kraken, 10.6
- New Jersey Devils, 10.5
- Utah Hockey Club, 10.3
- Edmonton Oilers, 10.2
- Chicago Blackhawks, 10.1
- New York Rangers, 9.7
- San Jose Sharks, 9.6
- Ottawa Senators, 9.5
- New York Islanders, 9.3
- Boston Bruins, 9.1
- Anaheim Ducks, 9.0
- Calgary Flames, 8.9
- Nashville Predators, 8.4
Now, you may be saying, “Wait a minute now, Todd, the Kings rank even lower in shots on goal.” I get that, but the difference is, the Kings are allowing 24.9 shots on goal per game. As for the Sabres, that number’s 29.2.
In other words, the Kings don’t need to shoot the puck often to win games, unlike the Sabres, who can’t play sound, consistent defense. So, if they started playing to their strengths a little more, maybe they’d have won a few more games earlier in the season. Until that fact gets through to them, expect inconsistent hockey.