Start with the final score, then read each goalie’s shots faced, saves, goals against, save percentage (SV%) and goals-against average (GAA) together. Those numbers describe different parts of the game: the score tells you the result, SV% tells you what share of counted shots the goalie stopped, and GAA expresses goals allowed per 60 minutes. A goalie’s win or loss is a separate decision, not a simple reward for making the most saves.
Read the result before judging the goalie
Check the final score and, if available, the period-by-period scoring first. That establishes who won and when the decisive goals happened. A team can win while being outshot, and a large workload alone does not show whether a goalie played well.
Next, note whether the box score records a goalie change. If two goalies appeared, their individual lines reflect different portions of the game; team totals should not be assigned to either goalie without checking the minutes and goals credited to each.
What counts as a shot on goal?
The NHL records a shot on goal when a shot, tip or deflection enters the net, or would have entered if the goalie had not stopped it. A missed shot or a puck that hits the post is not a shot on goal. The NHL glossary explains this definition at Get to Know Key Hockey Terms.
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This distinction matters because a box score’s shots-on-goal figure is not necessarily the same as a total shot-attempts figure. Attempts may include shots that missed the net or were blocked before reaching the goalie. For a goalie’s save percentage, use shots faced—not all attempts. Alison Lukan’s Seattle Kraken explainer discusses how conventional goalie measures work and what they leave out: Analytics with Alison: Sizing up Goaltending.
How to read saves, goals against and SV%
Saves count shots on goal stopped by the goalie. Goals against are the goals credited to the goalie while they were playing. The NHL defines save percentage as saves divided by shots faced.
SV% = saves ÷ shots faced. It is commonly displayed as a decimal, such as .900, or as a percentage, 90.0%. A higher SV% means the goalie stopped a larger share of shots on goal in that sample; it does not, by itself, account for the danger or difficulty of those shots.
Example: If a goalie makes 27 saves on 30 shots faced, the remaining three shots were goals, and the goalie’s SV% is 27 ÷ 30 = .900, or 90.0%. This is a calculation example, not a published game statistic.
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What GAA means and how to calculate it
Goals-against average (GAA) expresses goals allowed per 60 minutes of play. The NHL formula is GAA = goals allowed × 60 ÷ minutes played. The NHL glossary lists that formula alongside its definition of save percentage: Get to Know Key Hockey Terms.
For example, a goalie who allows three goals in 60 minutes has a 3.00 GAA. If the goalie played fewer than 60 minutes, use that goalie’s own minutes and goals against in the formula. Do not divide a team’s total goals against by one goalie’s minutes if another goalie also played.
SV% and GAA are complementary, not interchangeable. SV% is the share of shots on goal stopped; GAA is the rate of goals allowed normalized to 60 minutes. Neither alone describes the full workload or shot difficulty.
Why a goalie may get the win despite fewer saves
In the NHL, the goalie decision depends on who was on the ice when the game-winning or game-tying goal was scored, as described in the league glossary. The game-winning goal is the goal that leaves the eventual winner one goal ahead. A goalie who made fewer saves can therefore receive the win, while a goalie who faced more shots may not. The decision is tied to the timing of the decisive goal, not a ranking of save totals.
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When reading a split-duty game, check the goal sequence and which goalie was playing at the key scoring moment before interpreting the win, loss or tie designation. This is an NHL convention; do not assume another league or competition assigns goalie decisions identically.
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Keep standings and shootout accounting in context
A game result, an individual goalie decision and a team’s standings statistics are related but distinct. In NHL standings, a shootout win counts as one goal for, and a shootout loss as one goal against. The NHL glossary also lists standings tie-break criteria after points and games played, including regulation wins (RW), wins excluding shootouts (ROW), total wins, head-to-head points, goal differential (DIFF) and goals scored (GF).
Shootout totals are not handled identically by every competition or stat category. The NCAA official statistics rules surfaced in its manual state that shootout goals, shots and saves are excluded from team and individual totals. Because the applicable rules can vary by competition and edition, consult that competition’s current rules and the box score’s own definitions rather than applying NHL standings treatment universally. NHL conventions are described in the league glossary.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the traditional goalie line cannot tell you
SV% and GAA do not account for defensive support or fully capture shot difficulty. A goalie facing clear sightlines from distance is not necessarily facing the same challenge as one dealing with traffic, a tip or a close-range chance, even when the box score counts each as a shot on goal.
Lukan’s explainer describes expected-goal models, which estimate shot danger using factors such as location and game state, and discusses measures including goals saved above expectation (GSAx), save percentage relative to expected based on shot quality (dFSv%), and goals saved above average (GSAA). These are model-based measures; providers can use different inputs, so comparisons require a consistently defined provider and model. They add context to the basic box-score line rather than replacing it.
Seattle goalie Philipp Grubauer illustrated the issue in Lukan’s article: “How do you separate if somebody shoots from the blue line versus when there’s a guy in front of me who tips it,” he said. “That’s a scoring chance because the player tips it – it may or may not be seen as high danger, but there’s a difference there too.” The same article quotes goaltender Chris Driedger saying GSAA “can be helpful above and beyond traditional save percentage.”
Quick Recap
A quick way to compare two goalie lines
- Check minutes and workload: compare shots faced alongside the time each goalie played.
- Compare SV%: compare the share of shots on goal stopped, while remembering that shot quality is not represented in the rate.
- Compare GAA: compare goals allowed per 60 minutes, using each goalie’s own minutes and goals against.
- Add context if available: use shot-quality-adjusted measures only when their provider and definitions are consistent.
- Keep the team result separate: the final score identifies the winner; the NHL goalie decision follows the timing of the game-winning or game-tying goal.
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