After having recently looked at the NHL's leading assist makers, in an attempt to weed out those players loading up on 2nd Assists, I thought I'd take a look at the opposite end of the scoring formula. How often are Unassisted Goals scored, and which players get the most and least unassisted tallies? On an individual level, that could help us see who can create (and capitalize on) their own offensive chances, while on a team level, it might give us some insight into offensive style. For instance, a low-scoring team with a high proportion of "Solo Goals" might have goal-scoring talent on the roster, but not enough playmaking ability to set them up more often.
Somewhat surprisingly, when we look back at the 2005-06 season, only 4.8% of non-empty net, non-penalty shot goals were scored without an assist. In terms of overall results, Eric Staal of the Carolina Hurricanes led the league with 6 such markers:
At the opposite end of that spectrum, we find that out of the top 25 goal scorers from last year, there were four players who scored zero unassisted goals: Ottawa's Dany Heatley, Anaheim's Andy McDonald, Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby, and Edmonton's Ryan Smyth.
And now for the team-by-team results...
The real outliers here are Washington, which scored a much higher portion of their goals unassisted than any other team in the league, while on the bottom end you have Phoenix and L.A., which were the only two teams scoring less than 3% of their goals unassisted.
As for this year, we have three players so far with 3 Solo Goals each: Atlanta's Marian Hossa, Toronto's Mats Sundin, and (what is it about this family?) Pittsburgh's other rookie sensation, Jordan Staal.
And as to our team-by-team numbers, the Capitals are again leading the way...
Across the league this year, 4.6% of non-empty net, non-penalty shot goals are solo efforts, quote close to last year's 4.8% figure. As to major moves by various teams, the Philadelphia Flyers are on a pace to score only about a third as many solo goals as last season, whereas the Buffalo Sabres have already exceeded last year's total and should score more than 20 by season's end (but then again, what kind of goals aren't they scoring these days?).
So if your favorite team's playmaker gets injured this year, take a look above and see what propects there are for players to create their own offensive chances. In some cases, there may be enough offensive skill around to make up for the loss...
Somewhat surprisingly, when we look back at the 2005-06 season, only 4.8% of non-empty net, non-penalty shot goals were scored without an assist. In terms of overall results, Eric Staal of the Carolina Hurricanes led the league with 6 such markers:
| Player | Total Goals | Unassisted | Portion |
| Eric Staal, CAR | 43 | 6 | 13.9% |
| Antii Laaksonen, COL | 16 | 5 | 31.3% |
| Mike Fisher, OTT | 22 | 5 | 22.7% |
| Brian Gionta, NJD | 47 | 5 | 10.6% |
| Alexander Ovechkin, WSH | 52 | 5 | 9.6% |
| Brian Rolston, MIN | 32 | 4 | 12.5% |
At the opposite end of that spectrum, we find that out of the top 25 goal scorers from last year, there were four players who scored zero unassisted goals: Ottawa's Dany Heatley, Anaheim's Andy McDonald, Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby, and Edmonton's Ryan Smyth.
And now for the team-by-team results...
| Team | Total Goals | Unassisted | Portion |
| Washington Capitals | 227 | 21 | 9.25% |
| Ottawa Senators | 306 | 21 | 6.86% |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 251 | 18 | 7.17% |
| Detroit Red Wings | 291 | 16 | 5.50% |
| New York Rangers | 237 | 15 | 6.33% |
| Carolina Hurricanes | 271 | 14 | 5.17% |
| Atlanta Thrashers | 265 | 13 | 4.91% |
| Nashville Predators | 248 | 13 | 5.24% |
| Colorado Avalanche | 271 | 13 | 4.80% |
| San Jose Sharks | 258 | 12 | 4.65% |
| Columbus Blue Jackets | 211 | 12 | 5.69% |
| Chicago Blackhawks | 207 | 12 | 5.80% |
| Florida Panthers | 224 | 12 | 5.36% |
| Anaheim Ducks | 240 | 11 | 4.58% |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 250 | 11 | 4.40% |
| Minnesota Wild | 214 | 11 | 5.14% |
| Dallas Stars | 249 | 11 | 4.42% |
| New Jersey Devils | 228 | 11 | 4.82% |
| Boston Bruins | 223 | 11 | 4.93% |
| Calgary Flames | 208 | 11 | 5.29% |
| Vancouver Canucks | 240 | 9 | 3.75% |
| Montreal Canadiens | 237 | 9 | 3.80% |
| New York Islanders | 216 | 9 | 4.17% |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | 242 | 9 | 3.72% |
| Buffalo Sabres | 263 | 8 | 3.04% |
| Edmonton Oilers | 241 | 8 | 3.32% |
| St. Louis Blues | 189 | 8 | 4.23% |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | 237 | 8 | 3.38% |
| Phoenix Coyotes | 235 | 7 | 2.98% |
| Los Angeles Kings | 236 | 4 | 1.69% |
The real outliers here are Washington, which scored a much higher portion of their goals unassisted than any other team in the league, while on the bottom end you have Phoenix and L.A., which were the only two teams scoring less than 3% of their goals unassisted.
As for this year, we have three players so far with 3 Solo Goals each: Atlanta's Marian Hossa, Toronto's Mats Sundin, and (what is it about this family?) Pittsburgh's other rookie sensation, Jordan Staal.
And as to our team-by-team numbers, the Capitals are again leading the way...
| Team | Total Goals | Unassisted | Portion |
| Washington Capitals | 109 | 10 | 9.17% |
| Buffalo Sabres | 133 | 10 | 7.52% |
| Atlanta Thrashers | 117 | 10 | 8.55% |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 118 | 9 | 7.63% |
| Detroit Red Wings | 101 | 8 | 7.92% |
| Colorado Avalanche | 116 | 8 | 6.90% |
| Anaheim Ducks | 132 | 7 | 5.30% |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | 111 | 7 | 6.31% |
| Chicago Blackhawks | 84 | 6 | 7.14% |
| Calgary Flames | 95 | 5 | 5.26% |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | 113 | 5 | 4.42% |
| Ottawa Senators | 119 | 5 | 4.20% |
| New York Rangers | 107 | 5 | 4.67% |
| Florida Panthers | 106 | 5 | 4.72% |
| Minnesota Wild | 94 | 5 | 5.32% |
| Columbus Blue Jackets | 90 | 4 | 4.44% |
| New York Islanders | 103 | 4 | 3.88% |
| Boston Bruins | 101 | 3 | 2.97% |
| Nashville Predators | 119 | 3 | 2.52% |
| Carolina Hurricanes | 115 | 3 | 2.61% |
| San Jose Sharks | 107 | 3 | 2.80% |
| Edmonton Oilers | 96 | 3 | 3.13% |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 82 | 3 | 3.66% |
| Montreal Canadiens | 104 | 3 | 2.88% |
| Los Angeles Kings | 100 | 2 | 2.00% |
| St. Louis Blues | 80 | 2 | 2.50% |
| Dallas Stars | 98 | 1 | 1.02% |
| Phoenix Coyotes | 84 | 1 | 1.19% |
| New Jersey Devils | 91 | 1 | 1.10% |
| Vancouver Canucks | 88 | 1 | 1.14% |
Across the league this year, 4.6% of non-empty net, non-penalty shot goals are solo efforts, quote close to last year's 4.8% figure. As to major moves by various teams, the Philadelphia Flyers are on a pace to score only about a third as many solo goals as last season, whereas the Buffalo Sabres have already exceeded last year's total and should score more than 20 by season's end (but then again, what kind of goals aren't they scoring these days?).
So if your favorite team's playmaker gets injured this year, take a look above and see what propects there are for players to create their own offensive chances. In some cases, there may be enough offensive skill around to make up for the loss...