Somehow, someway, on January 30, the Calgary Flames are sitting in a playoff spot. Even after back-to-back regulation losses, the Flames have maintained a razor-thin grip on the final wild card spot in the Western Conference. The Flames sitting in a playoff spot as we enter February is a huge surprise in itself, but it’s how they’ve managed to stay there that’s even more surprising.
The team has been scoring at their worst rate in over a decade, sitting among the very worst teams in the NHL when it comes to putting the puck in the net. The frequency at which a team scoring as little as the Flames makes the playoffs is incredibly small, and yet they have a great chance of making that a reality. Let’s dive into just how rare the Flames season has been, and why they’re on pace to be one of the only teams this century to get into the playoffs despite their goal-scoring woes.
Previous low-scoring playoff teams
As mentioned, it’s an incredibly rare occurrence for a team to make the playoffs scoring at a rate as little as the Flames are right now. Looking back since 2000 and the beginning of the 21st century, there have been just five cases of teams finishing in the bottom four in goals and still making the playoffs. That’s five teams across 23 seasons. In that span, 368 teams have made the playoffs, and only five of them finished bottom four in goals. That gives you an incredibly tiny 0.01% of playoff teams since 2000.
So, who were those teams and how did their seasons end? Let’s take a look.
| Season | Team | Goals For |
|---|---|---|
| 2011–12 | Los Angeles Kings | 194 |
| 2008–09 | Anaheim Ducks | 205 |
| 2009–10 | Boston Bruins | 206 |
| 2018–19 | Dallas Stars | 210 |
| 2005–06 | Calgary Flames | 218 |
| 2024–25 | Calgary Flames | 222* Current pace |
2018–19 Dallas Stars
Season finish: WC1 | Playoff finish: Lost 2nd round
Surprisingly, you only have to go back a few years to find the most recent example. The 2018–19 Dallas Stars finished the season 29th in the NHL for goals for, but finished in the first wild card spot in the Western Conference. The Stars made the playoffs pretty comfortably as well, finishing the year seven points up on the ninth-place team in the West.
Their roster that year contained just one point-per-game player in Alexander Radulov who had 72 points in 70 games. Along with Tyler Seguin who posted 80 points, the duo were the only Stars players who finished the year with more than 55 points. Seguin’s 33 goals were tops on the team, with only three players posting 20 or more goals.
Come the playoffs, the Stars did manage to win a round, defeating the Nashville Predators in six games. Unfortunately, their luck ran out in the second round, losing in game seven against the St. Louis Blues, who would go on to win the Stanley Cup that year.
2011–12 Los Angeles Kings
Season finish: 8th Western Conference | Playoff finish: Won Stanley Cup
The 2011–12 Los Angeles Kings are one of the biggest outliers in NHL history, and for good reason. That season, the Kings finished 29th out of 30 teams in the NHL for goals, finishing the year with just 194. Despite this, they finished the year with a 40–27–15 record and snuck into the playoffs as the eighth seed in the west, five points up on the ninth-place Flames.
The Kings didn’t have a single point per game player that year, with Anze Kopitar’s 76 points leading the way. Kopitar was also the only player on the team to finish with at least 60 points that season, with only four Kings finishing the season with over 40 points. In terms of goal scoring, the team didn’t possess a single 30-goal scorer.
As we all know, the Kings stumbled into the playoffs as massive underdogs but proceeded to go on one of the greatest Stanley Cup runs in NHL history. They’d cruise to a championship, going 16–4 in the playoffs while finishing third for goals for per game in the playoffs. If this is the model the Flames are looking to replicate, good luck.
2009–10 Boston Bruins
Season finish: 6th Eastern Conference | Playoff finish: Lost 2nd round
The 2009–10 Boston Bruins had a historically low-scoring roster. The team finished the season 29th out of 30 for goals and didn’t have a single player post 55 points on the season. Their highest scorers in Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci tied with 52 points and were the only players on the team with over 50 points. Their goal-scoring was even more pitiful. The team’s highest scorer was Marco Sturm who had just 22 goals. No other Bruins hit the 20-goal mark.
After squeaking into the playoffs by four points as the sixth seed, the Bruins actually won their first-round series in six games—despite scoring just 16 goals across those six games. In their second-round series, the Bruins jumped out to a 3–0 series lead before collapsing and losing four straight games, scoring just eight goals across the final four games of the series. In the end, their scoring woes were their demise dramatically.
2007–08 Anaheim Ducks
Season finish: 4th Western Conference | Playoff finish: Lost 1st round
The 2007–08 Anaheim Ducks somehow finished the season fourth in the Western Conference, winning 47 games that year despite finishing 28th out of 30 teams for goals. In terms of points, they actually finished fifth in the entire NHL. This is despite rostering a single player with over 55 points in Ryan Getzlaf. After Getzlaf, the Ducks’ highest scorer was Corey Perry with 54 points. Chris Kunitz was the only other Duck to hit 50 points on the season.
In the playoffs, the Ducks’ low-scoring offence was their downfall as they’d fall flat on their face despite finishing top five in the NHL during the regular season. They’d drop their first-round series in six games, scoring a dreadful 13 goals across their six games.
2005–06 Calgary Flames
Season finish: 4th Western Conference | Playoff finish: Lost 1st round
The Flames themselves have actually achieved the rare feat 19 years ago during the 2005–06 season. That legendary Flames roster was fresh off a Stanley Cup final appearance and was very much a classic Darryl Sutter team. Despite finishing 28th in the NHL for goals, the Flames finished fourth in the West and seventh in the NHL.
The roster was led by Jarome Iginla in one of the worst seasons of his Flames career, posting just 67 points to lead the team. Daymond Langkow was the only other Flame to hit 50 points that season. Along with Tony Amonte, the trio were the only forwards on the entire team to reach 40 points that year.
In the playoffs, however, the team’s luck ran out and their lack of goal-scoring ended up costing them. The Flames would drop their first-round series in seven games in an incredibly low-scoring series. Across the seven games, the Flames scored just 16 goals, getting shutout in the deciding game seven.
Low scoring, but elite defensively
Here’s the catch with this rendition of the Flames that is so interesting: Not only would they be the sixth team of the 21st century to make the playoffs despite finishing bottom four in goals, but they’d be doing so in an unprecedented way. All five of the other teams who pulled off the rare feat were elite defensively, which explains how they managed to get to the dance despite being among the lowest-scoring offences in the league.
| Season | Team | GA rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2024–25 | Calgary Flames | 14th* Current pace |
| 2018–19 | Dallas Stars | 2nd |
| 2011–12 | Los Angeles Kings | 2nd |
| 2009–10 | Boston Bruins | 2nd |
| 2007–08 | Anaheim Ducks | 2nd |
| 2005–06 | Calgary Flames | 1st |
Yes, every single other team of the 21st century who made the playoffs after finishing the season bottom four for goals, also finished top two for goals against. In other words, they were all defensive juggernauts and elite at keeping the puck out of their net.
This year’s Flames however are nowhere close to that, sitting a very pedestrian 14th overall for goals against. It’s frankly remarkable they are even close to the playoffs, given their goal-scoring record this season. If they were to continue along this path and somehow make their way into the playoffs, they’d become the first bottom-four scoring team of the 21st century to make the playoffs without also finishing top two in goals against.
