Hockey Stats Abbreviations: Skaters, Goalies and Standings
Decode common hockey stats abbreviations, from GP and PIM to SV%, GAA and xG, with formulas and the key differences between totals and rates.
GP means games played, G means goals, A means assists, and P or PTS means points. Those four abbreviations explain the basic scoring line: a player’s points equal goals plus assists.
The rest depends on which report you are reading. A skater’s scoring table, a goalie report and the NHL standings can use the same letters differently. Start with the column heading and report type—not just the abbreviation. This guide uses NHL definitions unless noted otherwise.
Common skater and goalie abbreviations
The definitions below follow the NHL statistics glossary. Alternative labels such as PTS, PCT and SV PCT also appear in the Chicago Wolves’ abbreviation guide.
| Abbreviation | Meaning | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| GP | Games played | Games in which the player participated, not merely dressed as an unused backup. Shootout-only participation also counts. |
| G | Goals | Goals credited to the player; shootout goals are separate. |
| A | Assists | Credited touches leading to a goal; up to two assists can be awarded, provided the opponent has not controlled the puck in between. |
| P / PTS | Points | A skater’s goals plus assists. |
| A1 / A2 | Primary / secondary assists | The last and second-last assisting teammates before the scorer. |
| +/− | Plus-minus | On-ice goal differential, excluding power-play goals for and against but including empty-net situations. |
| PIM | Penalty minutes | Assessed penalty minutes, whether or not they create an opposing power play. |
| S / SOG | Shots on goal | Goals plus saved shots; excludes misses and attempts blocked by skaters. |
| S% / SH% / PCT | Shooting percentage | Goals ÷ shots on goal × 100. Check the report heading for the provider’s label. |
| PPG | Power-play goals | The player’s goals scored on the power play. |
| PPA / PPP | Power-play assists / points | PPP equals power-play goals plus power-play assists. |
| SHG / SHA / SHP | Shorthanded goals / assists / points | Scoring credited while the player’s team is shorthanded. |
| GWG | Game-winning goals | The goal that puts the winner one above the loser’s final total. In a 5–2 win, it is the winner’s third goal. |
| TOI | Time on ice | Playing time; check whether the report shows a total or an average. |
| TOI/GP | Time on ice per game | Total playing time divided by games played. |
| FOW / FOL | Face-off wins / losses | Number of draws won or lost. |
| FOW% / FO% | Face-off win percentage | Wins ÷ (wins + losses) × 100. |
| BkS | Blocked shots | Opposing shot attempts blocked by the skater. |
| GvA / TkA | Giveaways / takeaways | Losing possession through an unforced error / taking possession from an opponent rather than receiving it through an opponent’s error. |
| GS | Games started | In a goalie report, games the goalie started; not the same as GP. |
| GA | Goals against | Goals allowed by the goalie or team named in the report. Empty-net goals count against the team, not the absent goalie. |
| SA | Shots against | Shots on goal faced, not every opposing attempt. |
| SV / Sv | Saves | Shots on goal stopped by the goalie. |
| SV% / Sv% / SV PCT | Save percentage | Saves ÷ shots against, commonly displayed as a decimal such as .920. |
| GAA | Goals-against average | Goalie goals allowed per 60 minutes: GA × 60 ÷ minutes played. |
| SO | Shutouts | Games with no opposing goals before any shootout. A shared shutout is credited to the team, not either goalie individually. |
Two totals deserve special care. PIM is not simply time spent shorthanded, and plus-minus is not an individual defensive grade. Both require context beyond the number.
NHL standings abbreviations
These describe team results, not individual scoring:
- W: total wins, including regulation, overtime and shootout wins.
- L: regulation losses when overtime/shootout losses have their own column.
- OT / OTL: overtime or shootout losses in a combined standings column. SOL identifies shootout losses when listed separately.
- PTS / P: standings points—two for a win, one for an overtime or shootout loss, zero for a regulation loss.
- RW: regulation wins. ROW: regulation plus overtime wins, excluding shootouts.
- GF / GA / DIFF: goals for, goals against and GF minus GA.
- L10 / STRK: record over the last 10 games and current streak.
The NHL glossary explains standings points, while the league’s tie-breaking procedure distinguishes W, RW and ROW. In standings, a shootout victory adds one goal for and a shootout loss adds one goal against; these team totals can therefore differ from the league’s Stats reports. Labels such as L10, STRK and SOL appear in ESPN’s standings glossary.
PTS changes meaning with the report: a skater with 40 PTS has 40 goals plus assists; a team with 40 PTS has earned 40 standings points. Likewise, SO can mean shutouts in a goalie summary but shootout in a dedicated shootout report.
Advanced-stat abbreviations
- CF% / SAT%: Corsi-for percentage, the team’s share of all shot attempts—on goal, missed and blocked. For a skater, it describes events while that player is on the ice.
- FF% / USAT%: Fenwick-for percentage, the share of unblocked attempts—shots on goal plus misses.
- xG / xGoals: expected goals, a model-based estimate built from scoring probabilities assigned to attempts. xG% is the team’s share of expected goals, not its shooting percentage; in an on-ice skater report, it includes teammates’ attempts too.
- GSAx: goals saved above expected—expected goals against minus actual goals allowed. A positive value means fewer goals allowed than the model expected.
The NHL glossary equates CF% with SAT% and FF% with USAT%, and stresses that shot-attempt shares are possession proxies, not measured puck-possession time. Its SAT and USAT reports use 5-on-5 play. MoneyPuck’s glossary defines its expected-goal and goals-saved-above-expected measures. When comparing xG figures, keep the provider and model consistent.
Read the denominator before comparing players
A hypothetical player with 10 G, 15 A and 100 SOG has 25 PTS and a 10% shooting percentage. A goalie who stops 184 of 200 SA has a .920 SV%—92% of shots faced. If those 16 goals against came over 400 minutes, the goalie’s GAA is 2.40, not goals divided by appearances.
A /GP suffix means per game played; /60 means per 60 minutes of ice time. The latter adjusts for playing time, but it does not make different roles identical. Also check the strength filter: EV includes equal-strength situations such as 5-on-5, 4-on-4 and 3-on-3; 5-on-5 is narrower. These distinctions are set out in the NHL glossary.
For a useful comparison, match the season, strength state and denominator first—then interpret the number.