{{Unreferenced, date=May 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot)
A scoring chance, in
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...
is an attempt or chance for a team or holder of the
puck to score a
goal
A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines.
A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ...
.
While there is no exact definition of a scoring chance, the
Elias Sports Bureau The Elias Sports Bureau is a privately held company providing historical and current statistical information for the major professional sports leagues operating in the United States and Canada.
Elias is the official statistician for Major League Ba ...
, who is the official statistics recorder of the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
and many other professional sports leagues, clarifies a scoring chance as an attempt or shot taken from a "
home-plate shaped area" that goes from the top of the faceoff circles, through the
faceoff
A face-off is the method used to begin and restart play after goals in some sports using sticks, primarily ice hockey, bandy, floorball, broomball, rinkball, and lacrosse.
During a face-off, two teams line up in opposition to each other, and ...
dots, then angled to the goal posts. Another possible definition of a scoring chance can be any shot that is taken by an attacking team on an
odd man rush, such as a 2-on-1 or 3-on-2 break.
A reason many
box score
A box score is a structured summary of the results from a sport competition. The box score lists the game score as well as individual and team achievements in the game.
Among the sports in which box scores are common are baseball, basketball, f ...
s and stat sheets list the number of scoring chances is to differentiate between
shots that are relatively easy
saves for the
goaltender
In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...
(shots that are not scoring chances) and shots that are not easy saves (shots that are also scoring chances).
Ice hockey terminology