A penalty is a
punishment for infractions of the rules. A
referee makes most penalty calls while the
linesmen may call only obvious technical infractions such as
too many men on the ice. In the NHL, the linesmen may also stop play due to player injury, and may report to the referees, during any stoppage in play, any circumstances pertaining to major, match, or misconduct penalties, abuse of officials (physical or otherwise), unsportsmanlike conduct, or double-minor penalties for
high-sticking causing injury, that were not detected by the referees. During a penalty, the player who committed the infraction is sent to the
penalty box. When a goaltender is penalized, a player who was on the ice at the time of the infraction goes to the penalty box, and the goalie stays in game. Small infractions are deemed minor penalties, and the player is kept off the ice for two minutes of gameplay. A larger infraction, such as high-sticking that causes a visible physical injury, is deemed a double-minor, and the perpetrator is kept off the ice for four minutes. More dangerous infractions, such as fighting, are deemed major penalties and have a duration of five minutes. The penalized team cannot replace the player on the ice and is thus
short-handed for the duration of the penalty. Normally, hockey teams have five skaters (plus the
goaltender) on the ice. If a minor or major penalty is called, play becomes "five-on-four"—five skaters versus four skaters. This situation is called a
power play for the non-penalized team and a
penalty kill for the penalized team; a team is far more likely to score on a power play than during normal play. If the penalized team is scored on during a minor penalty, the penalty immediately terminates. A double-minor is divided into two separate two-minute minor penalties that are served consecutively. This means that if a goal is scored by the team on the power play before the first minor is over (before the two-minute mark of the power play), the first minor ends and the penalty clock goes down to two minutes. If a goal is scored during the second minor (after the two-minute mark of the power play), the penalty ends. Unlike minor penalties, major penalties must be served to their full completion, regardless of number of goals scored during the power play. When a penalty is about to be called, an official raises his arm to signal a
delayed penalty; play continues until the offending team touches the puck, at which point, the official blows the play dead and assesses the penalty. After a penalty is assessed, play resumes with a face-off in the offending team's defensive zone under most circumstances. If a delayed penalty is called and goes to the end of the period then the full penalty goes to the next period. If a penalty is called with less than two minutes to go in a period, except for overtime, a penalty is "carried over" into the next period, meaning that any power plays called in the final two minutes of a period move along to the next period. For example, a penalty called at 19:01 in the first period, the remaining 1:01 of the power play goes to the second period. When a goal is scored while a delayed penalty is in effect against a team already short-handed because of a minor penalty, the new penalty is called when the goal is scored, and the scoring team is awarded a fresh power play. Furthermore, when goals are scored, penalties come off the board in the order in which they were called.
Own-goal mishaps The offending team cannot touch the puck during a delayed penalty. This usually results in the opposing team replacing their goalie with an extra forward until the offending team touches the puck, since the offending team must touch the puck in order to score on the empty net. On rare occasions, however, this situation has resulted in an
own goal. For example: • In the November 24, 2008
New York Islanders–
Montreal Canadiens game, when the referee was about to call a penalty against New York,
Montreal Canadiens' goaltender
Carey Price headed back to the bench for an extra forward. At that moment, Canadiens' defenceman
Ryan O'Byrne, not noticing the delayed penalty and the empty net, attempted to pass the puck to his (now-missing) goaltender. The puck landed in the net and a goal was awarded to the Islanders'
Bill Guerin. • In the March 21, 2009 game between the
Vancouver Canucks and the
Phoenix Coyotes, Phoenix scored an empty-net goal during a delayed penalty against the Coyotes'
Viktor Tikhonov. In an attempt to take possession and thus stop play, Tikhonov poke-checked Vancouver's
Henrik Sedin near the Vancouver blue line. Since Tikhonov only ever touched Sedin's stick, and not the puck, play continued, even though the puck was now headed straight for Vancouver's goal. Sedin's teammate
Shane O'Brien skated after the errant puck, but to no avail. Both the puck and O'Brien landed in the net (with O'Brien dislodging the net in full force), and Tikhonov was credited with the goal. • In the March 21, 2013, game between the
New Jersey Devils and the
Carolina Hurricanes, when the referee was about to call a 2:00 minor penalty against the Devils'
Marek Židlický for hooking, Carolina goaltender
Dan Ellis was heading to the bench for an extra attacker when he discovered that
Jordan Staal's pass to
Tim Gleason had been unsuccessful and, as a result, the puck had bounced off the boards toward the empty net. Ellis tried to chase after it, but he could not get there in time, and, because Carolina's
Alexander Semin was already in the penalty box when the puck went into the net, a power play goal was awarded to the Devils; its goaltender,
Martin Brodeur — the last Devil to touch the puck — was credited with the goal.
Non-power play situations There are exceptions to the rule where a team cannot replace a player on the ice after a penalty: mutual majors for fighting, where there are two participants in a fight, will result in each person receiving five minutes, but the penalties will not affect the on-ice strength of either team (play remains five-on-five), unless a player is deemed to be the instigator of the fight, in which case that player will receive an additional two-minute minor. There are also "coincidental" minors in which the penalties called against both teams are simultaneous and equal in length, so that neither team receives a power play, with teams skating five-on-five.
"Delay of game" situations After the
2004–05 NHL lockout, a new rule was instituted that imposes a minor
delay-of-game penalty on any defensive player who directs the puck out of bounds (e.g., over the glass into the stands or into the safety netting). When the puck is shot into either of the players’ benches, the penalty will not apply.
Match penalties Although very uncommon, a match penalty can be assessed when a player has made a deliberate effort (successful or not) to injure an opposing player. A player who receives a match penalty is ejected for the balance of the game. Additionally, the team plays shorthanded for five minutes, regardless of the number of goals scored. Should a goaltender receive a match penalty, a backup goaltender is allowed into the game.
Misconduct penalties There are also misconduct penalties which are reserved for infractions such as continued disputing of a call with an official. A normal misconduct penalty results in the player being kept off the ice for 10 minutes; that player, even after the 10 minutes have expired, must remain in the penalty box until the next stoppage of play. Game misconduct penalties share the same effect as a match penalty; a player that receives a game misconduct is then immediately removed from the ice for the balance of the game. In both instances, a team will be required to replace that removed player with a substitute. If a goaltender, at any time, receive a normal misconduct, that goaltender stays in the game, and a designated skater will have to serve the misconduct penalty on the goaltender's behalf. Should a goaltender, however, receive a game misconduct, it is pulled from the game, and a backup is then put in. A player receiving a misconduct penalty does not cause his team to play short-handed unless he also receives a minor or major penalty in addition to the misconduct penalty.
Power play combinations Various combinations of penalties may also result in matchups such as 5-on-3, 4-on-3, 4-on-4 or even 3-on-3; in a four-on-four or three-on-three penalty combination, icing will still be enforced. A team, however, may not have fewer than four players (including the goaltender) on the ice at any point in the game.
Power play in overtime If a penalty is called on a team in overtime, the matchups in that period cannot become 3-on-2, as there cannot be less than three skaters on the ice for a team. Instead, the power play team gets a 4-on-3 power play. When that power play ends, the matchups temporarily become 4-on-4 until the play is blown dead, after which the matchups return to 3-on-3. ==Team roster==