Hockey Stats Explained: Goals, Assists, Plus/Minus, Save Percentage, and Everything on the Box Score.
Hockey uses the word “points” for two completely different things, and that is the source of most of the confusion. A player earns points for goals and assists. A team earns points in the standings for winning. These two systems have nothing to do with each other and share only the word. Once that is clear, the rest of the stat sheet is straightforward.
A hockey box score looks complicated at first glance. It has abbreviations, fractions, and numbers in formats that do not appear in any other sport. The underlying concepts are simple once translated. This is the guide to reading every number in a hockey box score, from the most basic to the ones that require a little more explanation.
HOCKEY STATS QUICK REFERENCE
| Abbreviation | Stat | What It Means |
|---|---|---|
| G | Goals | Times the player scored. One point per goal in personal stats. |
| A | Assists | Times the player set up a goal. Up to 2 awarded per goal. One point per assist. |
| PTS | Points | Goals + Assists. The primary measure of offensive contribution. |
| +/- | Plus/Minus | Even-strength goals for vs against while on ice. Does not count power play goals for. |
| PIM | Penalty Minutes | Total time in the penalty box. 2 min per minor, 5 min per major. |
| SH | Shots on Goal | Shots that would have entered the net if not stopped. |
| SV% | Save Percentage | Goalie: saves ÷ shots faced. Varies by era; best judged vs league average. |
| GAA | Goals Against Average | Goalie: goals × 60 ÷ minutes played. Lower is better. |
| GP | Games Played | Total games in a season. Useful context for all other stats. |
| TOI/GP | Time on Ice per Game | Average minutes on ice per game. Top forwards average 18–22 min. |
* Standard box score format for skaters: G-A—PTS, +/-, PIM. Example: 35-45—80 means 35 goals, 45 assists, 80 points.
——— GOALS AND ASSISTS ———
Hockey Goals, Assists, and Points Explained: How Individual Scoring Works
Goals
A goal is awarded to the last player on the scoring team to touch the puck before it entered the net. One goal equals one point in a player’s individual statistics. Simple. The complexity begins with assists.
Assists
Up to two assists are awarded on each goal, always to the last two players who touched the puck before the scorer. If Player A passes to Player B who passes to Player C who scores, Player A gets a primary assist and Player B gets a secondary assist. If the opposing team gained possession between any of those touches and then lost it again, the assist chain resets. Each assist counts as one point in a player’s individual statistics, equal to a goal. This is why elite playmakers can accumulate more points than players who score more goals — a player with 20 goals and 50 assists has 70 points, more than a player with 35 goals and 25 assists.
Points and the stat line format
Points (PTS) are the sum of goals and assists. A player with 35 goals and 45 assists has 80 points. The standard way this is written on a stat sheet or broadcast graphic is 35-45—80: goals, a dash, assists, a longer dash, total points. When you hear an announcer describe a player as “a 30-goal scorer” or a “60-point player,” those are the numbers they mean. The Art Ross Trophy, awarded annually to the NHL’s regular season points leader, is the most prestigious individual offensive award in the sport. Points are the currency of every offensive conversation in hockey.
Hat tricks
A hat trick is three goals by one player in a single game. The term comes from cricket, where a bowler who took three wickets on three consecutive deliveries was traditionally awarded a hat. In hockey, fans celebrate a hat trick by throwing hats onto the ice — the arena staff collects them after. A natural hat trick is three consecutive goals by the same player with no other player scoring in between. Four goals in a game is sometimes informally called a Texas hat trick, though that term is not official NHL terminology.
“Up to three players can earn points on a single goal. Hockey goals rarely happen in isolation — they’re usually the product of teamwork and smart passing. This is why elite playmakers can rack up 50-plus assists in a season without scoring many goals themselves.”
——— PLUS/MINUS ———
Plus/Minus Explained: The Most Misunderstood Stat in Hockey
What it measures
Plus/minus (+/-) tracks a skater’s net impact on the score during even-strength and shorthanded situations. A player receives a plus (+1) every time their team scores a goal while they are on the ice at even strength or while their team is shorthanded. A player receives a minus (-1) every time the opposing team scores while they are on the ice at even strength or while their team is shorthanded. Power play goals do not count toward plus/minus in either direction. A player with a +20 rating has been on the ice for 20 more even-strength goals for than against over the season.
What it does not measure
Plus/minus does not account for the quality of teammates, the strength of opponents faced, or whether a player was responsible for the goal scored against. A defenseman who plays most of his minutes against the opposing team’s top line will naturally accumulate more minuses than one who plays against weaker competition. A forward on a dominant line will accumulate more plusses without necessarily playing better defense. For this reason, plus/minus is best understood as context, not as a standalone judgment of a player’s value. It tells you something. It does not tell you everything.
“Plus/minus quietly tracks how well a player helps their team control the flow of the game, influencing whether more goals are scored for or against their team while they’re on the ice. Power-play goals are excluded from the calculation on both sides.”
——— PENALTY MINUTES ———
Penalty Minutes (PIM) Explained: What They Measure and Why They Matter
Penalty minutes (PIM) track the total time a player has spent in the penalty box during the season. A minor penalty is 2 minutes. A major penalty is 5 minutes. A misconduct is 10 minutes but does not give the opposing team a power play. A game misconduct results in ejection. PIM accumulate across the season regardless of type. A player with 100 PIM has spent 100 minutes in the penalty box over the course of the year.
High PIM can indicate an aggressive, physical style of play that contributes to a team’s identity, or it can indicate a lack of discipline that costs the team power plays against. The context matters. Some of the most beloved players in NHL history have had high PIM seasons. Some of the most harmful players to their teams have also had high PIM seasons. The number alone does not explain which category a player falls into.
——— GOALIE STATS ———
Hockey Goalie Stats Explained: Save Percentage, GAA, and How to Read a Goalie’s Line
Save percentage (SV%)
Save percentage is one of the most widely used goalie statistics. It is calculated as saves divided by shots faced. A goalie who faces 30 shots and saves 28 has a save percentage of .933 (28 ÷ 30). The standard written format is a three-decimal number: .920, .925, .930. League-wide averages shift by era, so SV% is best judged against the league average for that season rather than fixed benchmarks. As a general reference point, .920 is typically considered solid and .930 and above elite — though what counts as strong depends on the year. A shutout — a game in which the goalie allows zero goals — produces a save percentage of 1.000 for that game.
Goals against average (GAA)
Goals against average measures how many goals a goalie allows per 60 minutes of play, adjusted for the actual time they were on the ice. The formula is: goals allowed × 60 ÷ minutes played. A goalie who allowed 100 goals over 2,400 minutes of ice time has a GAA of 2.50 (100 × 60 ÷ 2,400). Lower is better. At the NHL level, 2.50 and below is generally considered strong. Under 2.00 is exceptional. GAA and SV% tell slightly different stories: a goalie facing heavy shot volume can have a good SV% and a higher GAA simultaneously, because they are simply facing more shots.
Reading a goalie’s stat line
A standard goalie stat line looks like this: 30 SA, 28 SV, 2 GA, .933 SV%. That reads as 30 shots faced, 28 saves, 2 goals allowed, .933 save percentage. The consistency check is simple: saves plus goals against should always equal shots faced. 28 + 2 = 30. If those three numbers add up, the line is correct. Wins (W), losses (L), and overtime losses (OTL) are also tracked for goalies and affect team standings the same way they do for skaters. SV% and GAA are the numbers that tell you how well the goalie actually played.
——— TIME ON ICE ———
Time on Ice (TOI) and Other Stats: What the Numbers You See on Broadcasts Actually Mean
Time on Ice (TOI)
Time on Ice (TOI) measures the total time a player spends on the ice across the season. TOI per game (TOI/GP) is the average per game and is the number most commonly referenced in broadcasts and on stat sheets. NHL shifts last approximately 45 seconds on average. Top-line forwards typically average between 18 and 22 minutes per game. Elite defensemen average between 22 and 26 minutes. A player’s TOI/GP can provide a useful indication of how much responsibility a coach gives them: more ice time generally signals more trust, though special teams assignments, game situation, and matchup decisions also affect the number.
Shots on goal (SH)
A shot on goal is a shot that would have entered the net if not stopped by the goalie. Shots that miss the net, hit the post, or are blocked by a skater before reaching the goalie are not counted as shots on goal. Shots on goal per game is a proxy for offensive zone time and shooting volume. A team that consistently generates more shots than its opponent is generally controlling the game, though shot quality matters as much as quantity — a team can lose despite outshooting the opponent if they allow high-quality chances.
Advanced stats in brief
The NHL and its analytics community have developed a range of advanced statistics that go beyond the traditional box score. Corsi measures shot attempts for and against while a player is on the ice, regardless of whether the shot was on goal. Fenwick is similar but excludes blocked shots. Expected Goals (xG) weights shot attempts by the probability of scoring from that location and situation. These numbers are increasingly used by teams and broadcasters but are not yet standard in mainstream coverage. For a new fan, the basics — goals, assists, plus/minus, SV%, GAA, TOI/GP — are sufficient to follow the sport at a high level.
Goals. Assists. Points. Plus/minus. Penalty minutes. Save percentage. Goals against average. Time on ice. The box score is not complicated once you know what the words mean. Hockey uses “points” for two different things. The rest is math.
35-45—80. That’s 35 goals, 45 assists, 80 points. Now you can read the stat sheet.
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