Pittsburgh Penguins Offense: Is Poor Shooting to Blame?

The Pittsburgh Penguins offense has been scuffling. Despite a collection of some of the leagues top talent, the Penguins rank a disastrous 28th in goals for per game at 2.19.

During the Pittsburgh Penguins recent five game losing streak, the team has only managed to score six goals. Despite this, the team has outshot their opponents in four of those five games.

Some point to the Penguins shot advantage as a positive, and that the team has been very unlucky. While luck may play a part in the team’s scoring drought, a closer look at the numbers reveals some surprising facts.

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According to sportingcharts.com, the Penguins rank 28th in the league in shooting percentage, with only 6.95% of their shots resulting in goals. The league average is 8.86% with the top teams in the league approaching 11 percent.

In addition to the overall team’s shooting woes, many of the Pens key players are also struggling with shooting efficiency this season.

Stats provided by the Penguins official website show that Evgeni Malkin leads the Penguins (minus Trevor Daley) with 15.5% of his shots resulting in goals. While Malkin is first on the Pens, his number ranks 66th in the league. However, his numbers are actually slightly higher than his career average of 12.9%

Malkin may be having a slightly better than average shooting season, but the same cannot be said for the rest of the team. Many of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ key offensive players are having seasons well below their career numbers.

Among the Penguins forwards, Sidney Crosby, David Perron, Chris Kunitz, and Patric Hornqvist are all shooting at levels that are about half of their career averages. Respectively, these forwards rank 374th, 384th, 361st, and 415th in the league.

While some of these horrible numbers can be attributed to a hot goalie or bad luck, the Penguins offensive mentality may also be to blame. According to war-on-ice.com’s team hextally, the Penguins are taking more shots from unsuccessful areas and fewer in the high-percentage zones.

The Pens shoot 4% more than the league average from left point, despite a success rate of just 1.03%. Additionally, the Penguins shoot about 6% less from areas just in front of the opposing net where they have a much higher goal rate of 6.16%.

Next: Three Thoughts on the Penguins' Misfortunes

While these numbers are certainly frustrating, they could represent potentially good news for the Penguins.

The stats could simply signify a severe scoring drought. The law of averages would suggest that all of these struggling Pens players should revert towards their normal rates, meaning greatly increased offensive output. The Pittsburgh Penguins’ PDO (99.25) being 21st in the league reflects that to some degree.

They could also show an issue with the Penguins offensive style. While the Penguins may take a lot of shots, if they come from low angles and great distances they will naturally be less effective. Hopefully when coach Mike Sullivan‘s system takes hold there will gradually be an increase in high danger scoring chances which will lead to more goals.

There is no question the Penguins offense is not where it should be. The secret could lie in the numbers behind the team’s shots. A change in offensive system, or simply the eventual return to a shooting percentage near the player’s averages could be all it takes to turn around the Penguins season.

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