A
goal in
ice hockeyIce Hockey is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use sticks to direct a puck into the opposing team's goal. It is a fast-paced and physical sport...
provides a team with one point. Unlike in American football, where a touchdown is scored if any part of the football crosses any part of the goal line, in ice hockey the entire
puckA puck is a disk used in various games serving the same functions as a ball in ball games. The best-known use of pucks is in ice hockey, a major international sport.-In ice hockey:Ice hockey requires a hard disk of vulcanized rubber...
must completely cross the goal line (within the goal frame) for a goal to be awarded.
Method of scoring
The object of the game of hockey is to score more goals than the opposing team.
GoaltenderThis article is about the goaltender in ice hockey. For the similar position in other sports, see goalkeeper. For the basketball foul, see goaltending....
s and
defencemenDefence in ice hockey is a player position whose primary responsibility is to prevent the opposing team from scoring...
are concerned primarily with keeping the other team from scoring a goal, while forwards are primarily concerned with scoring goals on the other team. Forwards, of course, have to be defensively responsible and defencemen also need to press offensively.
For a goal to be scored, the puck must entirely cross the goal line between the posts and under the crossbar of the goal frame. A goal does not count if it is sent into the goal from a
stickA hockey stick is a piece of equipment used in field hockey, ice hockey, or roller hockey to move the ball or puck.- Field hockey :Field hockey sticks have an end which varies in shape, often depending on the players position...
raised above the height of the crossbar. A goal also does not count if the puck is directed, batted or thrown into the net by an attacking player other than with a stick. Angling one's skate is allowed. A goal that is accidentally redirected off a player does count, but if it enters the net directly after touching an
officialIn ice hockey, an official is a person who has some responsibility in enforcing the rules and maintaining the order of the game. There are two categories of officials, on-ice officials, who are the referees and linesmen that enforce the rules during game play, and off-ice officials, who have an...
, it does not count. If the goalie is impeded from preventing the goal by an attacking player, the goal does not count. A goal can also be disallowed if the scoring team had too many men on ice at the time of the goal or if it was scored with a broken stick.
In many leagues, a goal does not count if a player from the attacking team has a skate or stick in the goal crease before the puck. The
NHLThe National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league as a joint venture for its self perpetuating membership of 30 franchised member clubs located in the United States and Canada...
abolished this rule after the disputed triple-overtime goal in the 1999
Stanley CupThe Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club cup trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion. It has been referred to as The Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
Finals.
Brett HullBrett Andrew Hull is a former NHL player and the current Executive Vice President of the Dallas Stars. He is the son of Bobby Hull and nephew of Dennis Hull, both former NHL players. Hull is also known as "The Golden Brett," which is a play off of his father's nickname, "The Golden Jet." He played...
of the
Dallas StarsThe Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas, Texas. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The team was founded in 1967 as the Minnesota North Stars, based in Bloomington, Minnesota. The franchise transferred to...
scored the series-clinching goal against the
Buffalo SabresThe Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League .-Founding:...
. On video replay, it was clear that Hull's skate was in the crease prior to the puck. But the NHL correctly allowed the goal because as Hull scored on his own rebound, he maintained possession and control of the puck throughout; thus as the rule was written and interpreted at the time, he was allowed to be in the crease.
Scoring statistics
The number of goals scored is a closely watched statistic. Each year the Rocket Richard Trophy is presented to the NHL player to have scored the most goals. The trophy is named after
Maurice RichardJoseph Henri Maurice"Rocket" Richard, Sr., PC, OC, OQ was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League from 1942 to 1960. The "Rocket" was the most prolific goal-scorer of his era, the first to achieve the feat of 50 goals in 50 games...
, the first player to score 50 goals in a season, at a time when the NHL regular season was only 50 games (compared to 82 today). The player to have scored the most goals in an NHL season is
Wayne GretzkyWayne Douglas Gretzky, CC is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player. He is currently a part-owner of the Phoenix Coyotes of the National Hockey League...
. Gretzky is also the fastest to 50 goals; during his record-setting 1981–82 season, in which he finished with 92 goals, he scored his 50th goal in the
Edmonton OilersThe Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division in the Western Conference of the National Hockey League ....
' 39th game of the season.
The overall amount of goal scoring is also closely watched. In recent years, goal scoring has decreased. Many believe the game is less entertaining because of this, and blame the change on the increasing size of goaltending equipment and the advent of defensive systems such as the
neutral zone trapThe neutral zone trap is a defensive strategy used in ice hockey to prevent an opposing team from proceeding through the neutral zone to force turnovers...
. Fans of defensive hockey counter by saying the high scoring of the 1980s was an anomaly, and this shift represents a return to the norm. For the 2004-05
American Hockey LeagueThe American Hockey League is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental circuit for the National Hockey League . 28 of the 30 NHL teams have exclusive affiliation agreements with one of the AHL's 29 active clubs...
season, four major rule changes were made that were intended to increase the scoring in games and make it more popular among casual fans -- (1) increasing the size of the attack zones by narrowing the neutral zone two feet each side and thus moving the goal line back two feet, (2) restrictions on the goaltender playing the puck, (3) permitting offside players to negate the penalty by "tagging up" with the blue line, and (4) changing the offside rule by permitting passes which cross the center line and one blue line (but not between both blue lines in certain restrictions). The AHL rules were slightly modified and adopted in the NHL and ECHL for 2005-06, when the NHL returned after the lockout.
Types of goals
There are a number of different types of goals for which separate statistics are kept, but all count equally:
- An even strength goal is a goal scored when both teams have the same number of players on the ice.
- A power play goal is a goal scored by a team on a power play, that is, with a numerical advantage in players due to a penalty being served by one or more of the other team's players.
- A shorthanded goal is a goal scored by a team that is on the penalty kill, that is, at a numerical disadvantage due to a penalty being served by one or more of its players
- An empty net goal is a goal scored when there is no goalie guarding the net because he has been pulled for an extra attacker
An extra attacker in ice hockey is a forward or, less commonly, a defenceman who has been substituted in place of the goaltender. The purpose of this substitution is to gain an offensive advantage to score a goal...
- A penalty shot goal is a goal scored on a penalty shot
In ice hockey, a penalty shot is a type of penalty awarded when a team loses a clear scoring opportunity on a breakaway because of a foul committed by an opposing player. A player from the non-offending team is given an attempt to score a goal without opposition from any defending players except...
, that is, a one-on-one confrontation between a single offensive player and the goaltender as a result of a penalty
- An own goal is when a player puts the puck into their own net, scoring for the other team
- An overtime goal is a goal scored in sudden-death overtime
- A go-ahead goal is the goal that puts one team ahead of another after the game has been tied
- A game-tying goal is a goal that causes the game to be tied, scored by a team that is down one goal (prior to the 1984-85 season, the NHL credited game-tying goals to the final scorers for both teams in tie games).
- A game-winning goal (GWG) is the goal scored by a team that defeats a team which scores goals; e.g. if team A beats team B 2-1, the scorer of team A's second goal is credited with the GWG, if team A beats team B 4-2, the scorer of team A's third goal is credited with the game-winner.
Related terms
The goal judge is an official positioned off ice behind each goal for the specific purpose of indicating when the puck has crossed the goal line and entered the goal. For arenas so equipped, the goal judge turns on a red light behind the goal when he sees the puck cross the goal line. As in all matters, however, the referee retains final authority and can override the opinion of the goal judge.
If a hockey player is last to touch the puck before it enters his own team's net — which in
football (soccer)Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players using a spherical ball...
is called an
own goalAn own goal occurs in association football and other goal-scoring games when a player scores a goal that is registered against his or her own team...
— credit for the goal goes to the last player on the scoring team to have touched the puck.
Other phrases include a
garbage goal, for a goal scored more as the result of luck or opportunism than skill, and a
breakaway goal for a goal scored when a player has gotten behind the defenders to face the goaltender alone.
A
Lemieux occurs when a player scores five goals: an even strength goal, a power play goal, a shorthanded goal, a penalty shot goal, and an empty net goal.
Mario LemieuxMario Lemieux, CQ is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player. He played 17 seasons as a forward for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League between 1984 and 2005...
scored the only Lemieux in NHL history against the
New Jersey DevilsThe New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
on December 31, 1988.
The two teammates of the scorer who last touched the puck before him, provided that no opponent touched it in between, are each credited with an assist. Assists and goals count equally to comprise a player's statistical scoring total.
When a player scores three goals in a game it is known as a
hat trickHat Trick, hat-trick or Hattrick may refer to:*hat-trick — in various sports, achieving three goals, wickets, etc. in a single match*Hattrick — online football management game*Hattrick Limited — producers of this game...
. If he scores his goals consecutively, it becomes known as a natural hat trick.
Any puck heading towards the net is counted as a shot. When the goalie prevents the shot from entering the net, he is credited with a
save.
Ice hockey is one of the few sports along with box lacrosse or indoor soccer in which an air horn, car horn, train horn, foghorn, or siren is used for a goal. In every NHL arena, the horn blares after each home team goal. This has been a trend since the 1990s. The only exception to this rule is during the NHL All-Star Game, where the role of that sound is expanded to cover every goal scored, and that the horn only sounds once. The horns are different depending on the teams, some even have sound effects such as an alarm or the foghorn of a ship, or both combined, for the
Washington CapitalsThe Washington Capitals are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
and the
Anaheim DucksThe Anaheim Ducks are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California, USA. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League...
.
See also
External links