Should we be worried about shots against?

[solidprospect]

We're 30th in shots against per game played,after 6 games, is this something we should be worried about?

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[BUCKLE UP]

Padding those goalie stats.

 

[stempniaksen]

Yes.

I love that Andy has somewhat rebounded this season, but if we're gonna give up 40 shots a game we're in for a long season regardless of improved goalie play.

 

[jbeck5]

30th isn't as bad as it used to be.

 

[swiftwin]

Small sample size. We're playing against some pretty good offensive teams, and LA who loves to just throw everything on net (they massively outshot the Leafs yesterday too).

 

[Stylizer1]

Every year we have this problem.

 

[Karl Prime]

I'd say yes. In 15-16 the team was winning early on even though they were giving up 35 a game and you knew it was going to come back and bite them and it did. I know Andy does better when facing more shots but at some point that will catch up.

 

[starling]

Define worried. If you are worried we don't make the playoffs then yeah, we won't make the playoffs if we keep playing like this.

 

[coladin]

I like that there seem to be less scoring chances which , to me, is more important than shot totals. The LA game was more of a score effect, jumping out to a 3-0 lead. Last night was a weird 6 on 5 with 7 minutes to go, and really good PP shots. But even their own coach lamented the lack of scoring chances disguised in the shot count.

 

[Engineer]

ok

 

[armani]

Already posted the same on another thread, but this is a good place to re-post.

Lots of pure adrenaline and youthful enthusiasm to start the season. Only 6 games played.

Kudos to Boucher for making the most with what he has. The SOG Against is unsustainable of course, I would pump the brakes about thinking this will be the norm (i.e. more wins than losses with higher SOG against) as opposed to a deviation. Enjoy the stretch as long as it lasts, here's hoping they can get on a streak that will see them finish better than bottom 5. Any else is super gravy.

 

[Ouroboros]

Shots against is nerd garbage that only dweebs care about.

 

[Lenny the Lynx]

I think the plan is to let the entire league go crazy with shots, take as many as they want and tire themselves out over the course of 6 or 7 years. Then when they are tired... we strike.
#sensrising

 

[NyQuil]

Yes, we should.

But not in individual games or small sample sizes.

 

[Gil Gunderson]

The amount of shots this team blocks is going to lead to some wear and tear.

 

[Alex1234]

I think the plan is to let the entire league go crazy with shots, take as many as they want and tire themselves out over the course of 6 or 7 years. Then when they are tired... we strike.
#sensrising

Lets dry the league up of shots to the point where even Ovie puke before he takes a backend shot on Anderson.

 

[danielpalfredsson]

The more we lead games early in the third, the worse our shots against will suffer. When we had the lead with 18 to go last night Boucher basically stuffed 3 players in front of our net. Even if a D would pursue, an F would cover.

We've been getting outshot prior to putting ourselves in that position, but it's a big part of why our team stats look so bad.

We're going to play Anderson 60-70 games this year I think, because this is a system that will fall apart with Condon in net. Anderson thrives when he gets a lot of shots. He might even be seen as a top 5 goalie this year, and while if that happens he'll have had a great season, his save percentage will have been inflated by this style of play.

Other than maybe Chabot and Lajoie to an extent, we don't have D that are good at moving the puck under pressure. I thought we'd suffer without Ceci to eat top minutes, but this system is clearly one that helps equalize against our lack of talent on the back end. There's a reason Wideman is not getting a lot of minutes at ES the last two games, and it's because this current system doesn't suit his strengths.

A big issue last year is that our forwards were not engaged in the system. They'd either make bad or lazy choices in the offensive zone when a D would pinch. They'd fail to cover when a D would pinch, there'd be a rush the other way, and when we'd get back to our own zone everybody would be running around like a chicken with their head cut off trying to figure out who to cover. I might have missed something, but last game this only happened once when Pyatt failed to cover for a Harpur pinch, it lead to a rush the other way. Someone lost Seguin and he almost scored with a high danger chance. So many goals were scored against us this way last year.

Forwards look a lot more engaged, and we're using our lack of talent on the back end to their fullest. We are not going to beat other teams by having guys like Boro, Harpur, Demelo, and Jaros be overly aggressive in our own zone. While we haven't exactly been passive, if I had to guess our D system is trying to minimize the choices those guys have to make while relying on Anderson to track pucks and stop easier shots.

 

[armani]

Lets dry the league up of shots to the point where even Ovie puke before he takes a backend shot on Anderson.

Puked my lunch in laughter!

 

[jbeck5]

Realistically, the only way to drastically effect this is to become a strong team with good possession numbers. Until we can outgun the other team line to line, we won't be outshooting them with regularity.

We have to go back to the Jacques Martin days of 4 stacked lines to go back to a team that regularly outshot their opponents year after year. We're talking 15-20 years ago lol.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Only when they go in

 

[NyQuil]

Realistically, the only way to drastically effect this is to become a strong team with good possession numbers. Until we can outgun the other team line to line, we won't be outshooting them with regularity.

We have to go back to the Jacques Martin days of 4 stacked lines to go back to a team that regularly outshot their opponents year after year. We're talking 15-20 years ago lol.

What's he up to these days?

 

[BonkTastic]

I'm worried about it, but I'm not panicking about it.

 

[Karl Prime]

What's he up to these days?

Assistant coach of the Penguins since 2013.

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

Condon? Yes, absolutely, but then we should be concerned no matter the shot count.

Anderson? Maybe not, he seems to thrive on it.

 

[swiftwin]

We're keeping shots to the outside:

Last year, we didn't do that:

In 2016-17, we DID do that: