▶ Rookie camp

The Rulebook

Everything you need to follow an NHL game and read the standings, without the 200-page official version.

The Rink

DEFENDING ZONENEUTRALATTACKING ZONE

1
Goal line & net. The whole puck has to cross this thin red line, between the posts, for a goal.
2
Crease. The blue half-circle in front of the net is the goalie's space. Bumping the goalie there can wipe out a goal.
3
Faceoff circles. Play restarts with a faceoff at one of nine dots: the ref drops the puck between two centers.
4
Blue lines. They split the ice into three zones and decide offside: attackers can't enter the attacking zone before the puck.
5
Center red line. Halfway line. Shooting the puck from your own half all the way past the far goal line is icing.
6
Neutral zone. The middle ice between the blue lines, where possession usually gets fought over.

The Game

A regular-season game

1st
20:00
5-on-5
2nd
20:00
5-on-5
3rd
20:00
5-on-5
OT
5:00
3-on-3
SO
1v1
shootout

OT and the shootout only happen if the score is tied after 60 minutes. The clock stops at every whistle, so a game takes about 2½ hours.

Who's on the ice

Six per side: five skaters (usually three forwards and two defensemen) and a goalie. Players change on the fly every 40–60 seconds, in groups called lines.

Goals & assists

A goal counts when the whole puck crosses the goal line. Up to two teammates who touched it before the scorer get an assist.

For a player, “points” means goals + assists. That's different from team standings points.

Overtime

Tied after three periods? In the regular season it goes to 5 minutes of sudden-death 3-on-3. The first goal wins.

Shootout

Still tied after OT: three shooters per team go one-on-one against the goalie. If it's still level, it goes to sudden-death rounds. The game is credited as a 1-goal win.

Playoff overtime

No shootouts in the playoffs. Teams play full 20-minute 5-on-5 periods until someone scores, sometimes deep into the night.

Pulling the goalie

A team trailing late often swaps its goalie for an extra skater to attack 6-on-5, risking an empty-net goal against.

Points & Standings

Win

any kind

OT / SO loss

the “loser point”

Regulation loss

lost in 60 min

The season

32 teams play 84 games each, from October to mid-April. They split into two conferences (Eastern and Western) of two divisions each, eight teams per division.

Standings are sorted by points. A record is written W-L-OT: 10-5-2 is 10 wins, 5 regulation losses and 2 overtime/shootout losses, worth 22 points.

Breaking ties

When two teams have the same points, the NHL looks at these in order:

Points percentage (fewer games played wins a tie on points)
Regulation wins
Regulation + overtime wins (shootout wins don't count)
Total wins
Points in games between the tied teams
Goal differential
Goals scored

Late in the season you'll see letters by team names: x clinched a playoff spot, y the division, z the conference, p the best record in the league (Presidents' Trophy), e eliminated.

Making the Playoffs

Who gets in

16 of the 32 teams, 8 per conference: the top 3 in each division, plus 2 wild cards per conference. Those are the next-best teams by points, whichever division they're in.

The Divisions tab shows this live: the red line under 3rd place is the division cut, and the dashed line on each rink is the wild card cut.

How it's played

Four rounds, every one a best-of-seven: first team to four wins moves on. The better seed gets home ice in games 1, 2, 5 and 7.

The winner lifts the Stanley Cup, the oldest trophy in North American pro sports.

One conference's bracket (A and B are its two divisions)

First Round
- A1 vs WC2
- A2 vs A3
- B1 vs WC1
- B2 vs B3
Second Round
- Winners from division A
- Winners from division B
Conference Final
- Last two in the conference
Stanley Cup Final
- East champion vs West champion

Whistles You'll Hear About

Offside

An attacker can't cross the opponent's blue line before the puck does. If they do, play stops and there's a faceoff outside the zone. Coaches can challenge a goal that followed an offside.

Icing

Shooting the puck from your own half past the opponent's goal line, without anyone touching it, is icing. The faceoff goes back to your end and your tired players can't change. A team killing a penalty is allowed to ice it.

Power play & penalty kill

When a player goes to the penalty box, their team plays a man short. The other team is on the power play; the short team is on the penalty kill. A goal by the short team is a shorthanded goal.

A raised ref's arm means a delayed penalty: play goes on until the guilty team touches the puck, so the other team pulls its goalie for an extra attacker.

Hat trick

Three goals by one player in a game. Home fans throw their hats on the ice to celebrate. Seriously.

The penalty box clock

2:00Minor: Tripping, hooking, slashing, holding, high-sticking… Ends early if the other team scores.
4:00Double minor: Two minors at once, typically a high stick that draws blood.
5:00Major: Fighting or a dangerous hit. Served in full, however many goals are scored.
10:00Misconduct: The player sits, but the team doesn't play a man down. Usually for arguing with the refs.

Stat Glossary

The same explanations you get by hovering or tapping a dotted-underlined stat anywhere on the site.

Decided in a shootout: Still tied after overtime, so it went to a penalty-shot shootout.
Decided in overtime: Tied after 60 minutes and won with a goal in the 5-minute overtime.
Division rank: Position within the team's own 8-team division.
Division spot: Top three in the division. If the season ended today, this team would be in the playoffs.
Division spots: The top three teams in each division qualify for the playoffs automatically.
Games played: How many games the team has played so far this season (84 in total).
Goal differential: Goals scored minus goals allowed. Positive means the team outscores opponents overall.
Goals against: Goals the team has allowed.
Goals for: Goals the team has scored.
Hot streak: Three or more wins in a row. The goal light is on.
Last 10 games: Record over the most recent ten games (W-L-OT): who's hot right now.
League rank: Position among all 32 NHL teams.
On the bubble: Level on points with the last wild card team but behind on tiebreakers (games played, regulation wins…). One good night changes it.
Out of a playoff spot: Below the last wild card right now. The number is how many points behind that team they are.
Overtime / shootout losses: Games lost after a tie at 60 minutes. The team still earns 1 point for getting that far.
Overtime loss: Lost after overtime or a shootout. Still worth 1 point.
Points: 2 per win, 1 per overtime or shootout loss. Standings are sorted by points.
Points back: How far behind the crew leader this team is.
Points pace: Points the team would finish with over 84 games at its current points percentage. Somewhere in the mid-to-high 90s usually makes the playoffs.
Points percentage: Points earned out of points possible. The fairest comparison when teams have played different numbers of games.
Recent form: The last few results, oldest on the left: W win, L loss, OT overtime/shootout loss.
Record (W-L-OT): Wins, regulation losses and overtime/shootout losses. 4-1-2 means 4 wins, 1 loss, 2 OT losses.
Regulation losses: Losses in the normal 60 minutes. Worth 0 points.
Season series: Head-to-head wins in the regular-season games between these two crew teams.
Streak: Current run of results: W3 means three wins in a row, L2 two regulation losses, OT1 an overtime loss.
Wild card: After the division top-threes, the two best remaining teams in each conference also make it, whatever their division.
Wild card cut line: Points held by the team in the conference's last wild card spot: the bar to clear to make the playoffs.
Wins: Each win is worth 2 points, whether in regulation, overtime or a shootout.