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Reference

NHL analytics glossary

Every metric this API returns, with the formula, what it is for, and the specific way people get it wrong. Written from how these are actually computed here, not paraphrased.

Corsi%
CF% · shot attempt percentage · shot share

A team's share of all shot attempts while it is on the ice — the oldest and bluntest measure of who is controlling play.

Fenwick%
FF% · unblocked shot attempt percentage

Corsi with blocked shots removed — a slightly cleaner read on possession, and a better predictor of goals.

Expected goals (xG)
xG · xGF · xGA · shot quality

The sum of every shot's probability of becoming a goal, given where and how it was taken.

GSAX
goals saved above expected · GSAx · GSAA

Expected goals against minus goals actually allowed — how many goals a goalie saved that an average goalie would not have.

High-danger save %
HDSV% · high danger chances · HDCF

Save percentage on shots from the slot — about a quarter of all shots, and the ones that decide games.

Save percentage
SV% · save pct

Shots stopped as a share of shots faced. The oldest goalie stat, and the one most distorted by the team in front.

PDO
SPSV% · luck stat

Shooting percentage plus save percentage. It regresses hard toward 100, which is the entire point of looking at it.

Goals against average
GAA

Goals allowed per sixty minutes of play. The oldest goalie stat, and the one that tells you most about the team in front.

Strength state
5v5 · even strength · manpower situation

How many skaters each side has on the ice. Almost every number worth reading is filtered to one of these.

Rink coordinates
x and y · shot location · event location

Where on the ice a play happened, in feet, already turned so every team attacks the same end.

Plus/minus
+/-

Goals for minus goals against while a skater was on the ice, at even strength and shorthanded.

Shooting percentage
SH% · S%

Goals as a share of shots on goal. Half of PDO, and the half that regresses hardest.

Point percentage
P% · points percentage

Points won as a share of points available. The only fair way to compare teams that have played a different number of games.