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Numbers Game: “Shoot the Puck!”

Shoot the puck – One of the oldest adages in the game; coaches preach it, some players follow it (see Alexander Ovechkin, Jeff Carter), while others seem to painfully adverse to it (see Tomas Kaberle).  The 18,000+ “qualified” coaches that attend the NHL games (with obvious notable exceptions in Atlanta, Phoenix, etc.) scream it on every offensive rush.  What do the stats say though?  Do more shots lead to more goals?  It makes sense.  More shots, more rebounds, more offensive pressure, more goals.

The numbers confirm it, to a certain degree (check stats below).  The Wings lead the league in shots/game and with 3.54 goals/game, they lead the league in that category as well.  In fact, there are only 3 teams in the top 10 in goals/game that are not ranked in the top 10 in shots (Bruins, Flyers and Penguins).   The average team ranking in goals/game among the top 10 in shots is 10.1.

However, an interesting trend appears among the teams ranked from 11th -20th in shots and those ranked from 21st -30th.  Out of the teams ranked amongst the lowest in the league in shots, there are only 2 teams that rank among the lowest (21st-30th) in goals/game.  In fact the average goals/game ranking among the teams ranked 21st-30th in shots/game is 15.3 compared to the 20.5 average ranking for teams located in the middle of the pack for shots (11th-20th).

TeamShots/GShots RankGoals/GGoals Rank
DET35.613.541
SJS34.523.423
WSH32.433.225
CGY32.343.186
NYR32.152.4328
CHI31.963.314
TOR31.572.9410
CAR31.572.4926
NJD31.193.068
MTL30.4102.9410
ANA30112.8116
BUF29.6122.8414
COL29.6122.6521
CBJ29.5142.6620
TBL29.4152.5424
OTT29.4152.429
BOS29.3173.432
NSH29.3172.3930
NYI29.2192.4727
LAK29.1202.5622
PHI29213.186
DAL29212.912
FLA28.8232.7817
VAN28.1242.8414
EDM28.1242.7817
STL27.9262.7817
MIN27.8272.5523
ATL27.7282.8613
PHX27.7282.5125
PIT27.1303.029