In this entry of the Hockey Handbook we are going to quickly run through the absolute basics of NHL Goaltender stats. Many hockey fans already know these stats inside-and-out but, if you want a refresher, stick around! If not, click HERE to browse through other Hockey Handbook entries.
Shots/Goals Against, Saves and Save Percentage
A goalie is credited with a shot against when the puck is touched by a member of the opposing team and the goalie must block/catch/stop it from entering the net to prevent a goal. This distinction is important! The following do not count as shots against:
- Missed shot attempts
- Shots that hit the post and don’t enter the net
- Shots that the goalie blocks but were not on a trajectory to enter the net
Basically, a shot attempt counts as a shot against if it is either a) a goal or b) a shot attempt that would have resulted in a goal if the goaltender had not intervened.
Saves are a subset of shots against. A shot against is a save if it does not result in a goal for the opposing team. If the shot against does result in a goal for the other team, it is a goal against.
Save percentage is simply saves divided by shots against. It is a useful metric for evaluating goalies because it allows you to compare the performance of multiple goalies who have faced a different number of shots against. In recent years “advanced” metrics for evaluating goaltender performance have been developed but save percentage is still the most popular stat to reference when discussing hockey goalies.
Save percentage lingo is strange for new hockey fans. Imagine that a goalie faced 10 shots against and allowed 1 goal. They made 9 saves, and saved 90% of the shots. So, this goalie has a save percentage of 90% right? WRONG. This goalie has a .900 save percentage – pronounced “nine hundred” not “point nine”. Why do we communicate a simple percentage in this nonsensical way? I wish I could tell you.
Here are some additional examples of save percentage lingo: a goalie who saves 90.8% of the shots they face has a .908 save percentage, pronounced ‘nine-oh-eight’. A goalie who saved 92% of the shots they faced has a .920 (‘nine-twenty’) and a goalie who saved 89.6% of the shots they faced has an .896 (‘eight-nine-six’). These examples should provide enough context to allow you to effectively communicate about save percentage without sounding like a normal human being who understands basic mathematical conventions (sigh).
The league-average save percentage in the NHL this season is .904. This number changes a bit every year, but generally stays in the .900 to .915 range. It peaked in 2014-2015 at .915 but has steadily trended down since then. An easy (albeit oversimplified) rule of thumb: above league average = good and below league average = bad. The figure below shows the goaltenders with the highest and lowest save percentages in the 2023-24 season (minimum 10 games played, as of February 13th).
Goals Against Average
A goaltenders goals against average (GAA) is the average number of goals that they allow per 60 minutes of playing time. GAA is generally considered a poor measure of goaltending talent when compared to save percentage as it does not take the volume of shots against into account. Nonetheless, it is the second most commonly referenced stat by typical NHL media members – the first being save percentage, of course.
Shutouts
Shutouts are easy. If a goalie does not let in any goals over the course of the entire game, they are awarded a shutout. Did I really need to make a whole new section for this? Too late now, I’ve already committed to it.
I hope you enjoyed this very basic look at goalie stats! Click HERE for more Hockey Handbook.
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