For those who reveled in all the offseason talk about an increased emphasis on offense, this one might come as a surprise.Through eight games the Nashville Predators are on pace for their fewest shots in the decade since the lockout that eliminated the entire 2004-05 season.They had 70 in the first two games (an average of 35 per contest) but have not topped 27 in the six contests since. They have been out-shot in each of those six by margins that range from one (Saturday against Pittsburgh) to 17 (Oct. 18 at Chicago).Their average of 27.0 shots per game is 27th overall and eighth among the nine teams with at least 11 points through Monday's games. Among the top teams only Calgary (24.8) averages fewer.Not exactly the offensive explosion so many wanted or expected.

SHOOTING GALLERYA season-by-season look at the Nashville Predators' average shots per game, beginning 2005-06:2014-15: 27.02013-14: 29.02012-13: 27.82011-12: 27.62010-11: 28.82009-10: 30.62008-09: 29.02007-08: 29.62006-07: 27.62005-06: 29.0

There is, of course, an explanation. It has to do with the fact that they have won so often.The Predators were the last team in the league to lose in regulation. That happened in Saturday's 3-0 defeat to Pittsburgh at Bridgestone Arena.That means they have played with the lead often enough through the first two-plus weeks of the season that opponents have been forced to press and take more shots. Nashville actually is 3-1-2 in games when it has been outshot.Consider that in 2006-07, Nashville set a franchise record with 51 wins, which was tied for second in the NHL, and averaged just 27.6 shots per contest. Likewise, the best Predators team in recent years, the 2011-12 version, which made the second round of the playoffs for the second consecutive season, once again averaged just 27.6.Against those numbers the current average actually is a positive sign.Also, of the nine teams with 11 or more points, five have allowed more shots on goal than they have taken, including Calgary, which is a whopping minus-6.3 in shot differential, and Montreal (minus-2.1), which is tied with Anaheim for the best record in the league.A more troubling figure is 2.25, Nashville's average goals per game. That too is off from last season's average (2.61), but the Predators have scored enough that they haven't had to shoot a lot.