Somehow, some way, the Calgary Flames find themselves in a playoff spot despite scoring the fewest goals in the league. This statement holds true three quarters into the season as the NHL trade deadline has passed. The final stretch is now here.
There are many ways to measure offensive prowess—or lack thereof—in the NHL. Goals for is by far the easiest, and most universally understood objective measure. It also allows comparisons across eras. For a team with the league’s worst offence to be a playoff team is virtually unheard of, and you have to go back multiple eras before you reach another occurrence of this happening.
How NHL teams finish in the standings with the fewest goals
Right now, the Flames have 164 goals after 63 games. This is the lowest outright total in the league and zero teams have games in hand over Calgary with fewer goals. Another way to put that is no matter how you do the math—by total goals or by goals per game—the Flames rank dead last.
This is not a recipe to even make the playoffs, yet alone playoff success at all. Yet, the Flames are very much a bubble team and they could very well end the season both with the NHL’s worst offence and as a playoff team.
Let’s take a dive into the NHL history books and go all the way back to the last time this happened in the NHL.
From the 2012–13 lockout until present
Typically, when a team scores the fewest goals in a season, they are in the league’s basement. Over the last five seasons, the lowest scoring team has been in the bottom three. You have to go back to 2018–19 to see the Anaheim Ducks finishing 24th overall. Still, they were not a playoff team and finished sixth in the Pacific Division.
Since the 2012–13 lockout, the lowest scoring team has finished last in the league five times—make it the bottom three and you’ll count nine such instances. Aside from the Ducks, only two additional teams were not in the bottom three. The New Jersey Devils finished 20th overall in 2015–16 and missed the playoffs by 12 points; in the shortened 2012–13 season itself, the Nashville Predators were fourth-last in the league.
| Season | Team | Goals For | Standings Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024–25 | CGY | 164 | 14th (out of 32) |
| 2023–24 | CHI | 179 | 31st |
| 2022–23 | CHI | 204 | 30th |
| 2021–22 | ARI | 207 | 31st |
| 2020–21 (56 GP) | ANA | 126 | 30th (out of 31) |
| 2019–20 (68–71 GP) | DET | 145 | 31st |
| 2018–19 | ANA | 199 | 24th |
| 2017–18 | BUF | 199 | 31st |
| 2016–17 | COL | 166 | 30th (out of 30) |
| 2015–16 | NJD | 184 | 20th |
| 2014–15 | BUF | 161 | 30th |
| 2013–14 | BUF | 157 | 30th |
| 2012–13 (48 GP) | NSH | 111 | 27th |
Since the turn of the century
Before the 2012–13 lockout, there was more variation. Teams who scored the fewest goals weren’t necessarily bottom dwellers. No, they were not playoff teams either, but there wasn’t as strong a correlation of being ranked last for goals scored and last in the league.
Funnily enough, the Flames had finished a season with the fewest goals in this span. This was the 2009–10 season, when Calgary was buoyed in the standings by none other than Miikka Kiprusoff. In fact, since the turn of the century, Calgary had the best season finish for any team that was last in the league for goals.
| Season | Team | Goals For | Standings Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011–12 | MIN | 177 | 24th (out of 30) |
| 2010–11 | NJD | 174 | 23rd |
| 2009–10 | CGY | 204 | 16th |
| 2008–09 | COL | 199 | 28th |
| 2007–08 | CBJ | 193 | 25th |
| 2006–07 | EDM | 195 | 25th |
| 2005–06 | STL | 197 | 30th |
| 2003–04 | CAR | 172 | 23rd |
| 2002–03 | CAR | 171 | 30th |
| 2001–02 | CBJ | 164 | 29th |
| 2000–01 | MIN | 168 | 25th |
| 1999–00 | ATL | 170 | 28th (out of 28) |
The last time the league’s worst offence made the playoffs
Now we enter a time where the NHL was rapidly expanding. It takes the league back into a phase where the worst offence once again correlated with being in the league’s bottom teams. Across the 1990s, the NHL went from 21 teams to 28. The league’s worst offence finished last seven times in that span.
It wasn’t until the very same season that the Flames won both the Presidents’ Trophy and Stanley Cup that the team with the lowest total goals made it into the postseason.
The Vancouver Canucks were indeed a playoff team with their league-low total of 251 goals. They were helped by their goaltending that was ranked third in the league for goals against and made it into the postseason with a 33–39–8 record and a -2 goal differential.
| Season | Team | Goals For | Standings Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998–99 | TBL | 179 | 27th (out of 27) |
| 1997–98 | TBL | 151 | 26th (out of 26) |
| 1996–97 | SJS | 211 | 25th |
| 1995–96 | OTT | 191 | 26th |
| 1994–95 (48 GP) | FLA | 115 | 15th |
| 1993–94 (84 GP) | OTT | 201 | 26th |
| 1992–93 (84 GP) | OTT | 202 | 24th (out of 24) |
| 1991–92 (80 GP) | SJS | 219 | 22nd (out of 22) |
| 1990–91 (80 GP) | NYI | 223 | 19th (out of 21) |
| 1989–90 (80 GP) | QUE | 240 | 21st |
| 1988–89 (80 GP) | VAN | 251 | 14th |
The Canucks making the playoffs here wasn’t exactly unreasonable. At that time, 16 out of 21 teams made the postseason, or 76% of the league. Doing the same in a 32-team league is astronomically more difficult.
The Flames can make modern NHL history
Calgary is currently in the second wild card spot. It seems like things will come down to the Flames versus the Canucks for the last spot. The Canucks are one point back with equal games played. The Blues could be in the fold, but they are also one point back of Calgary with two more games played.
If the Calgary Flames do indeed make the playoffs and their offence remains last in the NHL, they will make modern NHL history.
When it comes to goals scored, anything can happen from one game to the next. A team could get shutout or explode for five or more goals. In terms of the league’s worst goal scoring teams, here’s how the picture looks.
| Team | Games Played | Goals For | Goals Per Game |
|---|---|---|---|
| OTT | 62 | 178 | 2.87 |
| CHI | 64 | 178 | 2.78 |
| LAK | 62 | 177 | 2.85 |
| BOS | 65 | 176 | 2.71 |
| NYI | 63 | 173 | 2.75 |
| VAN | 63 | 172 | 2.73 |
| SJS | 65 | 171 | 2.63 |
| ANA | 63 | 169 | 2.68 |
| NSH | 63 | 167 | 2.65 |
| CGY | 63 | 164 | 2.60 |
Looking at who’s in the mix, the Flames might not finish last in the league for goals scored at all. Each of the teams listed here could all realistically hit dry spells and sink lower down. The Ducks, Predators, and Sharks are all teams who are losing more often than the Flames are. However, the other side of that equation is that the Flames also have to find their stride and climb up.
Movement in this table is certain, but Calgary does have the hardest path up. They have to score four goals in their next game just to move up even one spot, and that’s assuming the Predators don’t score goals of their own. For Calgary, if all you’re aiming for is to not finish last, you can take things game by game and close the gap bit by bit until you jump the next team up.
One goal at a time
From now until the final regular season game, there’s no telling what will happen. The parity in the league makes it all too plausible that the Flames could either solidify their playoff position or they could sink right into being a bottom-ten NHL team.
Things can still change in the final quarter. However, this obscure combination of being last in the NHL in goals scored while also being in a playoff spot is Calgary’s current reality. As a reality 63 games into the season, it’s an incredible sight to behold.
