Nighthawks offense struggling to score

[scoop 3,426]

Eight games into the season, the Malmo Nighthawks have been struggling to score. Their 2.5 goals per game has them ranked 13th in the league, which is not a great look for a championship hopeful. It has actually been worse than it looks, as seven of their 20 goals came in just one game against the Helsinki Titans, and outside of that lone outburst they have averaged fewer than two goals per game. Despite this, they have a 4-3-1 record at this point, largely due to the fact that they have allowed the second fewest goals. The scoring leader for the team thus far has been newcomer Martin Kemp, with five goals. On the flip side, last season's team leader Savaisk Tzesar has been particularly quiet. After scoring 44 goals in Season 94, he has just one through the first eight contests.

 

All hope is not lost for the season, however. Not only is eight games a small sample size, but also the Nighthawks have the third most shots on goal with 46 per game. As a team, they have a shot percentage of 5.43%, which is easily the worst in the league. Tzesar has been a standout in this category, as his single goal comes despite having 53 shots on net. I could simply say that I expect the shot percentage to rise closer to the league average of 8.07%, I do recognize as well that the eight-game sample size also pertains to the shot attempts that teams have taken. Maybe Malmo will not remain third in that regard, but the roster is definitely good enough to do so.