Talk:Save (goaltender)

Question
If a defenseman or forward blocks an on-target shot while the goalkeeper is out of position, who gets credit for the save. I'd assume that it still goes to the goalie, else we'd have to tabulate saves for every player. WHPratt (talk) 16:42, 28 May 2009 (UTC)
 * I believe that is not a save and the goaltender does not get credit for making a save, whether he/she is out of position or not. H Padleckas (talk) 04:17, 12 June 2010 (UTC)
 * Perhaps. However, if it's to be scored as a shot-on-goal for the offense but not a goal, then someone has to get credit for stopping it.  Maybe it's a team save? WHPratt (talk) 20:26, 14 June 2010 (UTC)
 * A shot on goal is a shot which would go into the net to score a goal if the goaltender (goalie) were to not stop it. If the goalie does not stop the puck, then a goal is scored.  If the goalie stops the puck from going in the net, then the goalie has made a save.  If some other player on the defending team stops the puck when it's shot, then he/she has blocked the shot, and it does not count as a shot on goal.  Goalies make saves; other defending players block shots.  In 1998, the NHL began keeping statistics for blocked shots.  You can read this article about blocked shots: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/26/sports/hockey/26hockey.html H Padleckas (talk) 04:06, 15 June 2010 (UTC)
 * No argument with that: defensemen (and forwards) block shots all the time. But I'm speaking of the rare instance when the goalkeeper has been pulled to the bench, or perhaps just faked out badly, and another player stands in the goal crease and stops a shot. This has to be a shot-on-goal (with respect to the shooter), yet it does not result in a goal.  If the equation shots_on_goal = goals + saves must hold (I would assume that it does), then someone has to get a save: the guy who made the stop, the absent goalie, or maybe just the team.  (Sorry to labor this point, but it bothers me when the books don't balance!) WHPratt (talk) 13:56, 15 June 2010 (UTC)
 * The equation holds; the problem is the premise that this situation has to be a shot-on-goal? As pointed out by H Padleckas, it doesn't meet the definition of a shot on goal since the goalie didn't need to make a save.  It doesn't matter if the shot is blocked as the puck is crossing the goal line of an empty net or metres out in front of a goaltender who would have likely made a save. 99.245.230.74 (talk) 03:46, 6 January 2012 (UTC)
 * This happened a few years back; Ray Bourque knocked a shot out of the air that was going towards an empty net after the goaltender was caught out of the net. Then either later in the game or in the following game, the announcers were asked if he would be credited with a save, and the answer was no, only goaltenders are credited with saves; Bourque was credited with a blocked shot.--Mo Rock...Monstrous (leech44) 04:36, 6 January 2012 (UTC)
 * So the opposing team's shooter, who shot accurately, was not credited a "shot on goal"? This suggests that while the goalie is pulled, no shots-on-goal are even possible for one team, except those that result in a goal.  (Or, is shots_on_goal = goals + saves + blocked_shots?)WHPratt (talk) 13:38, 6 January 2012 (UTC)
 * Correct, first statement. —KRM (Communicate!) 01:11, 7 January 2012 (UTC)