Ice Hockey
Ice hockey rules explained: periods, goals, players and face-offs
A practical introduction to the basic structure of ice hockey: regulation time, how many players are on the ice, when a goal counts and how play restarts.
Three periods of 20 minutes
Under IIHF rules, regulation time consists of three 20-minute stop-time periods. The game clock stops when play is stopped, so a period normally lasts longer than 20 minutes in real time.
Players on the ice
At full strength, a team has six players on the ice, normally one goalkeeper and five skaters. Penalties can temporarily reduce the number of skaters for the penalized team.
When a goal counts
A goal is scored when the puck completely crosses the goal line into the net and the play is legal under the rules. The team with more goals at the end of the applicable game format wins.
Face-offs, overtime and shootouts
A face-off starts each period and resumes play after many stoppages. If a competition requires a winner after regulation, overtime and, if still necessary, a shootout may be used. Their exact format is competition-specific, so it should not be assumed to be identical in every event.