BUFFALO — They rank last in goals scored, and despite a recent winning streak, the Buffalo Sabres have sat near the bottom of the NHL standings since the first weeks of the season.

Yet Buffalo is an unlikely leader in at least one category: Zemgus Girgensons, a 20-year-old center, has been annihilating the competition in fan voting for the All-Star Game, to be played in Columbus, Ohio, next month.

How a second-year player who does not rank among the top 100 scorers this season has amassed more than twice as many votes as superstars like Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews of Chicago and Sidney Crosby of Pittsburgh has stirred speculation. The only Latvian player in the NHL, Girgensons appears to be the beneficiary of nationalistic frenzy in his home country, a nation on the Baltic Sea with just over 2 million people.

“The whole nation is behind him right now,” said Arturs Irbe, Buffalo’s goaltending coach and a native of Latvia who played in the NHL for parts of 13 seasons. “They don’t want to let it go. Unless the NHL changes their voting rules, it might be a regular occurrence.”

The NHL permits up to 10 ballots per electronic device in a 24-hour period. The players with the most votes at each position make the All-Star Game.

Irbe described a social media campaign in Latvia that has prompted friends and family back home to vote diligently each day for Girgensons. “People right now feel like it’s their duty to help him get in, and get the most votes,” he said.

Through the third week of polling, released Tuesday, Girgensons had amassed 803,805 votes. Kane, a slick winger with a resume that includes two Stanley Cup championships and a Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the playoffs, trailed in a distant second with 375,758.

“I’m with a different breed of player there, so it’s a little funny, I guess,” a circumspect Girgensons said Thursday before scoring his team-leading ninth goal and adding an assist in a 4-3 victory over the Calgary Flames.

In the most recent week in which votes were measured, Girgensons added 400,000, 82 percent of them coming from Latvia.

“They feel like they are a part of the All-Star Game themselves,” Irbe said of his countrymen. “It’s a rare phenomenon.”

Brian Jennings, the NHL’s chief marketing officer, said the league had been monitoring voting for irregularities.

The recognition for Girgensons may be premature. Still, he is a promising young player with a strong work ethic that has endeared him to fans, teammates and coaches.

A first-round draft pick for Buffalo in 2012, he was a leader on the overachieving Latvian national team at the Sochi Olympics this year. The Latvians put a scare into Canada before falling 2-1 in a quarterfinal game.

When he went home over the summer, he was treated as a national hero.

“It was fun,” Girgensons said. “People recognize you, but they don’t bother you too much.”

In Buffalo, Girgensons, the Sabres’ top center, has been accorded responsibility not usually granted such a young player.

“He’s just a little bit more mature beyond his years,” said Buffalo coach Ted Nolan, who also coached Girgensons on the Latvian team. “He takes his job as a profession. He analyzes. He works at it. He’s one of the first guys on the ice, one of the last guys off the ice. He loves the game. You look at all the special players, all the special ones do that.”

In Sunday’ games:

Blackhawks 2, Flames 1: CHICAGO — Brandon Saad scored with 7:03 left in the third period, and Chicago earned its 12th victory in the past 14 games. Calgary has lost five straight.

Maple Leafs 4, Kings 3: TORONTO — Toronto goalie James Reimer shut out Los Angeles in the shootout, while Joffrey Lupul scored the lone goal for the Maple Leafs. The Kings rallied from a 2-0 deficit and led 3-2 in the third before the Leafs forced overtime.

Rangers 2, Oilers 0: EDMONTON — New York received goals from Dan Girardi and Carl Hagelin while goalkeeper Henrik Lundqvist recorded the shutout as the Rangers took the victory over Edmonton.