Why do teams pull the goalie again after giving up an empty net goal?

[Sykur]

The old Soviet teams would NEVER pull their goalie when down a goal late in the third and that was a longstanding policy of Russian hockey for decades. They didn't even pull their goalie in the Miracle On Ice.

Because as with most things in Russia, optics was more important than results. To them, a loss by 1 goal looked better than a potential loss by more (even though taking the risk had a greater chance of tying).

 

[HansonBro]

Would you prefer they just rage quit and toss the controller across the room?

 

[MarkusKetterer]

Would you prefer they just rage quit and toss the controller across the room?

I prefer if they do what Tom Draper did when he played for the Islanders: rage quit and toss the puck down the ice

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Same reason why NBA teams foul for free throws down a certain score after a game has been decided, you never know what might happen.

 

[Seras]

Losing is losing, the idea that losing 4-3 is somehow better than losing 6-3 is something only fans think matter

 

[Drake1588]

The game is not done. That is why. OP, why does it bother you that a team now loses 5-2 instead of 4-2?

It's still a loss, it's still the playoffs, and there is no allowance for goal differential, goals scored, or goals prevented that matters down the line. Just wins.

That is the reason they continue to pull the goalie. While it is very unlikely, there is still a chance to score two quick goals to tie it up. Whereas if they allow another ENG, it has no impact whatsoever.

They continue to pull the goalie because it modestly improves their slight chance to win, while it in no way represents a risk. There is no downside for the team doing it. Just, as stated eloquently above, optics.

 

[ponder719]

Goal differential is the 6th tiebreaker. The odds that it will matter at the end of the season are infinitesimal, even compared to the minuscule possibility of getting the game to OT and picking up a point.

 

[powerbomb]

While it feels like giving up an empty net goal is the end of the game to fans, players know that they can generate high quality scoring chances with that extra attacker. Especially in the playoffs, you want to give yourself every chance to win the game. It doesn't matter if you lose by 1, 2, or 5... if you need to score a goal, you want to generate as much offensive pressure as possible. I can't even imagine what it would look like to be a fan of a team whose coach shrugged their shoulders and said, "Well, boys, we tried... no point in thinking about winning this game with a minute and a half left, now that we're down by two!"

 

[ClydeLee]

Same reason they pulled him the first time.

The Sharks lost *after* scoring an empty-net goal with a minute left

The Sharks scored an empty-net goal with a minute to go against the Capitals. San Jose then lost the game. Unbelievable.

www.sbnation.com

Yet this is according to a DownGoesBrown article recently, the only ever time this happened in the NHL.

That baffles me that it never happened before for a team to get scored on their empty net pulling the goalie late in a game and still score to win.

 

[DownIsTheNewUp]

According to that video thumbnail, they had two Auston Matthews that game, so no wonder they came back.

 

[Oddbob]

Because when you give up a goal you are 5 to 13 percent more engaged for 8 seconds right after the goal. It is just facts!

 

[Panthaz89]

These type of threads remind me of the Mighty Duck movie where they are up like 7-0 and the kid says " it's over" and they ended up tying its been a while since I watched it.

 

[wasunder]

It’s a conspiracy to inflate mcdavids numbers and you’ve unravelled it

 

[Arpeggio]

This thread's been made before.

 

[Elysian]

Can only lose once per game.

 

[Machinehead]

Because they're stupid.

Pulling the goalie is a lot dumber than we think it is but you can get used to anything if it's around long enough.

 

[HockeyGuy1964]

Because they're still losing.

 

[Michel Beauchamp]

All the shitty things Patrick Roy did as a player, his worst contribution to the NHL may be his year as a coach, where he ruined the last 5 minutes of the game.

You probably meant his 3 years...

 

[EdJovanovski]

Because they're stupid.

Pulling the goalie is a lot dumber than we think it is but you can get used to anything if it's around long enough.

What??
Curious to know you’re reasoning for that, as your typically very big on analytics and I always see analytics folks say that goalies should be pulled earlier & more often

 

[Machinehead]

What??
Curious to know you’re reasoning for that, as your typically very big on analytics and I always see analytics folks say that goalies should be pulled earlier & more often

That's been debunked. That data was driven by one season which appears to be a fluke.

There are actually just as many seasons where pulling early hurts.

As you can see, it mostly doesn't move the needle. Best case scenario, it gives you $1.02 instead of a dollar.

0.4 goals per 60 is 0.006 (and change) goals per minute. So that's 0.006 if you pull with one minute versus 0.013 if you pull with two minutes. That six one-thousandths of an expected goal.

If it were risk-free, you would take it, but as it turns out, NOT HAVING A GOALIE MAKES IT REALLY f***ING EASY FOR THE OTHER TEAM TO SCORE WHO COULD HAVE KNOWN?!?!?!

If you pull with two minutes versus one, the most likely scenario is that the other teams scores right f***ing quick and the game is over. I'd rather have the extra minute than six one-thousandths of an expected goal.

 

[hockeyisgud]

They do it for the same reason they pulled the goalie in the first place

 

[yzerman]

Because they want to se if the experiment with the invisible man can stop a puck and if he can then a team can play with 6 players all the time and have no visible goalie!

 

[Djp]

It never made sense to me to pull the goalie again after giving up an empty goal. The game is done. Why not move on to the next game instead of just adding another goal against?

nothing to lose. This isn’t soccer where goals scored or differential matters.

coaches have pulled early given an opportunity. EN put them diwn 2 with 2+ left. Teams down 2 with 3 left pull goalie thrn too.

 

[KrisLetAngry]

Who cares if the other team scores an extra goal.

If you come back and score 2 with the empty net pulled you gave the team a chance to come back.

They score a 2nd empty net goal. O well.

 

[Dr Beinfest]

91 times in NHL history, a team has scored 3 goals in 45 seconds or less. The record is 3 goals in 20 seconds. A lot can happen in a very short time.

Also, does it really matter if you lose 5-2 instead of 4-2? What do you see as the benefit of giving up?

Of those 91 times, how many had 2 ENGs