Goals Against Average

NHL goaltending stat determined by taking the goals allowed by a goalie, dividing by the number of minutes played, then multiplying this by 60.

Goals Against Average, while a far better tool for evaluating goalies than won-lost records, is not without its flaws. The major shortcoming of GAA is that it doesn't factor in the number or type of shots faced by a goaltender. In other words, it is more a reflection of the defense in front of the goalie than the actual goalie himself. Is giving up 2 goals on 17 shots better than giving up 3 on 47? In reality, of course not, but according to GAA, the first goalie had a better game. A much better statistic for evaluating goaltenders is Save Percentage, which takes into account the number of shots faced by a goalie.