Introduction

 In close proximity to each end of the rink there is a red goal line on both sides of the width of the ice. It is used to arbitrator goals and icing calls. New because the 2005–06 NHL season, after difficult in the American Hockey League, a trapezoid is clear at the rear each goalie net. The goalie can only occupy yourself the puck within that area or in front of the goal line. If he plays the puck behind the goal line and not in the trapezoid, a 2-minute minor fine for delay of game will be assessed by the referees. This rule is widely referred to as the "Brooder rule", after New pullover Devils goalie Martin Brooder, whose puck management following the net is believed to be the cause for the rule. In 2014, the NHL extended the goal-line side of the trapezoid by two feet on both sides of the net In the National Hockey League, between stoppages of play, teams have 18 seconds (five seconds for the visiting team, eight seconds for the home team, five seconds to line up at the face off location) to substitute their players, except during TV timeouts. TV timeouts are two minutes long, and occur three times per period, during normal game stoppage after the 6, 10, and 14 minute marks of the step, unless there is a power play, a goal that has just been scored, or the stoppage was as a result of an icing. Each team may also take one 30 second time-out, but it may only be taken all through a normal stoppage of play.

Second step

A goal is scored when the puck pass wholly transversely the red line decorated between the goal posts and below the crossbar. A goal may be excluded under the following circumstances: the scoring players takes a punishment (except if the other team accidentally puts the puck into its own net untouched by the team to be penalized);the puck is bound for in by an attacker high stick (above the crossbar), or when the puck has been directed, batted, thrown or kicked into the net by an offensive player other than with a stick (angling one's skate so the puck deflects off it into the goal is allowed)goaltender interference (which can also result in a penalty)The puck goes in after the Referee intends to stop play (e.g. the net has been dislodged)The puck deflects off a referee or linesman and goes unswerving into the goal (exception to the rule that a puck hitting a adjudicator or a linesman is still live)a goal was allowed at the other end (this can happen if a video review clarifies a goal scored prior, as happen in a game on November 15, 2010 between the Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks)If a linesman reports to the referee (a) a double-minor for high-sticking, (b) a major punishment, or (c) a match penalty against the scoring team. When a regular-season sport is tied at the end of regulation, it goes into a 3-on-3, five-minute overtime period after a one-minute rest period with teams reversing the violent route. If a goal is scored through this period, the game ends and the team that scored the goal win the game. If there is no scoring in the five-minute overtime, the game goes into a three-round shootout with the home team given the preference of shooting or defending first.

Third step

If neither team emerges victorious, the spew out continues one edge at a time until one team scores and the other does not, in which case the team that score is given the win. A team that loses a game in in due course or the shootout receives one point in the standings; the awarding of game points to losing teams is a point of debate surrounded by fans and the media. Shootouts are not used in the playoffs; instead, a playoff game tied at the end of the regulation enters 20-minute 5-on-5 sudden-death overtime. The game continues indefinitely in this format until a goal is scored; the team that scores immediately wins the game. Additional 20-minute overtime periods are played as necessary until the winning goal is scored. In this case the teams switch sides as usual between periods, with a 20-minute intermission (normal length) between periods. In ice hockey, play is said to be offside if a player on the violent team crosses the disgusting blue line and into the offensive zone before the puck (unless the defensive team brings the puck into their own zone). A violation occurs when an offside player touches the puck. If a player crosses the line ahead of the puck but his team is not in possession of it, the linesman will raise his arm to signal a delayed offside; when all company from the offside team leave their offensive zone ("tag up" in the neutral zone) the linesman washes out the tardy call. When an offside violation occurs, the linesman blows the play dead, and a face off is conducted in the neutral zone. During the 2004-05 lockout, the league removed the "two-line offside pass" rule, which required a wildcat strike in play if a pass originating from inside a team's defending zone was completed on the distasteful side of the center line, unless the puck crossed the line before the player. The subtraction of the two-line offside was one of several rule changes intended to amplify overall scoring, which had been in decline since the early 1990s. The only time a player may precede the puck into the violent zone with the puck behind in the neutral district is if none of his teammates are in the attacking zone and the player with the puck has control of the puck in the estimation of the linesman (e.g. short-sticking/spin-o-ram).

Four step

Icing occur when a player shoots the puck crosswise both the center line and the differing team's goal line without the puck going from beginning to end the goal crease. When icing occurs, a linesman stops play if a defending player (other than the goaltender) crosses the unreal line that connects the two face off dots in their distrustful zone before an attacking player is able to. Play is resumed with a face off in the defending zone of the team that committed the infraction. Icing is not enforced for a team that is short-handed. If the goaltender makes a move from his net to play the puck, the icing is immediately waved off (in contrast to minor confederation and international hockey, where the goaltender must play the puck for it to be waved off). Icing can also be waved off if, in the officials' opinion, the defending team had a workable opportunity to play the puck before crossing the goal line. After an icing, a TV timeout cannot be called.Following the 2004–2005 lockout, the icing rule insists that the team in abuse of icing the puck is not permitted to make any line changes before the following faceoff. The Trushinski bylaw says players who are blind in one or both eyes are ineligible to play. The rule is named for Frank Trushinski, a minor confederation hockey player for the Kitchener Green shirts. Trushinski lost his sight in one eye in a pastime in 1921, but was allowed to keep on playing. In a later game, he suffered a skull fracture which cost him most of the sight in his other eye. 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 bad behavior penalties, abuse of officials (physical or otherwise), unsportsmanlike conduct, or double-minor penalty for high-sticking causing wrong, that were not detected by the referees.

Five step

During a fine, the player who committed the infringement is sent to the penalty box. Small infractions are deemed minor penalties, and the player is kept off the ice for two minutes of game play. A larger infraction such as high-sticking that causes the mistreated performer to have a able to be seen 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 shorthanded for the duration of the punishment. 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 standard play. If the penalized team is scored on during a minor penalty, the reprimand immediately terminates. A double-minor is separated into two disconnect 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 punishment 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 will raise his arm to signal what is referred to as a "delayed penalty". Play will continue until the aberrant team touches the puck, at which point, the official will blow the play dead and review the punishment.