A goalie’s save percentage (SV%) measures the share of shots faced that were stopped; goals-against average (GAA) measures goals allowed per 60 minutes; and quality starts (QS) count how often a start meets a specified performance threshold. They answer different questions, so none is a complete standalone grade of a goalie.
What does save percentage measure?
Save percentage is saves divided by shots faced. The NHL glossary puts it this way: “Save percentage is determined by dividing saves by shots faced.” It is usually written as a decimal: .900 means 90 percent of shots faced were stopped.
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For example, a goalie with 27 saves on 30 shots has a .900 SV%: 27 ÷ 30 = .900. Since shots faced consist of saves and goals allowed, the same calculation can be written as saves ÷ (saves + goals allowed). The NHL defines a shot on goal as a shot, tip, or deflection that enters the net or would have entered without a save.
SV% describes the proportion of shots stopped, not the number of shots or the difficulty of those shots. When comparing goalies, check the number of shots faced and the time period as well as the rate. A short stretch has fewer opportunities in its denominator and can fluctuate more; the cited sources do not establish a universal minimum sample size for a fair comparison.
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What does goals-against average measure?
GAA is goals allowed per 60 minutes of playing time. The NHL formula is goals allowed × 60 ÷ minutes played.
- Two goals allowed in 60 minutes: 2 × 60 ÷ 60 = 2.00 GAA.
- Two goals allowed in 30 minutes: 2 × 60 ÷ 30 = 4.00 GAA.
A lower GAA means fewer goals allowed per 60 minutes. It is not a save percentage: its denominator is time, not shots faced. GAA can also reflect team defense and the playing context in front of the goalie, so it does not isolate the goalie’s contribution.
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What is a quality start?
A quality start is a game-level label, not a season rate like SV% or GAA. Under Hockey-Reference’s definition, a goalie records a QS when the game’s save percentage is at least the mean save percentage for that season. Its QS% is the number of qualifying starts divided by total starts. This makes QS% a frequency measure: it tells you how often the goalie cleared the threshold, not how far above or below it each game was.
Quality-start methods are not universal. A 2024 study in the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine used an operational definition that allowed either a game SV% above that year’s mean or fewer than three goals allowed while stopping at least 88.5% of shots. That is the study’s method, not a replacement for Hockey-Reference’s definition. When reading QS data, identify the source’s rule before comparing figures.
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Hockey-Reference’s 2014 methodology post offered historical rules of thumb: below 50% was “bad,” above 60% was among league leaders, and the league average for an NHL regular was about 53.4%. These are dated reference points, not a current-season ranking or a confirmed 2026-27 benchmark.
How the three goalie statistics differ
| Statistic | What it counts | Denominator | What it helps answer |
|---|---|---|---|
| SV% | Shots stopped | Shots faced | What share of shots on goal did the goalie stop? |
| GAA | Goals allowed, scaled to a full 60 minutes | Minutes played | How many goals did the goalie allow per 60 minutes? |
| QS% | Starts meeting a stated quality-start threshold | Starts | How often did the goalie meet that threshold? |
The denominator determines what each statistic can tell you. SV% is a shot-based rate, GAA is time-based, and QS% is a share of starts. They complement one another; they are not interchangeable grades.
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How to compare goalies without losing context
- Match the period and competition. Compare the same season and type of competition, and use the same QS definition on both sides.
- Check workload. Include shots faced, minutes played, and starts. Starts alone are a crude workload measure: they do not capture how long each start lasted or how many shots the goalie faced. The 2024 retrospective study notes this limitation.
- Consider shot danger and game situation. Raw SV% and GAA do not tell you whether the shots were easy or difficult, or fully account for game context. NHL EDGE reports save-percentage splits by danger level and game situation. Contextual approaches such as adjusted save percentage and goals saved above average also aim to add information beyond raw rates.
- Keep benchmarks in their proper time frame. A historical QS% rule of thumb or a one-season example is not a current league-wide standard. The cited sources do not establish definitive 2026-27 NHL averages for SV% or GAA.
For a dated illustration of danger splits, NHL.com reported in its 2025-26 season coverage that Ilya Sorokin had a .878 high-danger SV%, Andrei Vasilevskiy had .846, and the NHL average was .814. The figures were reported with a minimum of 22 games for qualifying goalies. They illustrate one season’s high-danger split, not overall SV%, a universal definition of “good,” or a 2026-27 benchmark.
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Sources and definitions
- NHL Hockey Glossary — official definitions and formulas for SV%, GAA, and shots on goal.
- Hockey-Reference: Games Started, Quality Starts on Hockey-Reference.com — QS definition and historical interpretation (2014).
- Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine (2024): Load Management Among Professional Hockey Goalies: A Retrospective Cohort Study — study-specific QS method and workload caveat.
- NHL.com: NHL EDGE stats: Sorokin building strong case for Vezina Trophy — season-specific danger and situation reporting.
- Annual Reviews (2018): Goalkeepers — overview of contextual goaltending measures.
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