total skaters plus goalie). Penalized players return to the ice when their penalty expires, and the proper on-ice strength (e.g. 4-3, 4-4, or 3-3) is corrected at the first appropriate stoppage. In leagues like the National Hockey League (NHL) where regular season standings are based on a point system (i.e. two points are awarded for a win, one point for losing in overtime or a shootout, and zero points for a loss in regulation), a team may be forced to use an extra attacker even when the score is tied near the end of regulation of a game at or near the end of the regular season to avoid being eliminated from playoff contention. The NHL discourages teams from pulling their goaltender during an overtime period; if a team does so, and subsequently loses the game when their opponent scores an empty net goal, the losing team does not receive the one point in the standings they would otherwise have received for an overtime loss. Russian and Soviet coaches are known for refusing to pull their goalies when behind late in games, as was the case in the 1980 Winter Olympics medal game between the Soviet Union and the USA. The extra attacker concept was first utilized in the NHL by Art Ross, coach and general manager of the Boston Bruins, who picked up the idea from experimental incidents in amateur and minor-league hockey. In a playoff game against the Montreal Canadiens on March 26, 1931, Ross had goaltender Tiny Thompson go to the bench for a sixth skater in the final minute of play; the Bruins failed to score and lost the game 1–0. A 2018 model by Aaron Brown and Cliff Asness based on the 2015–16 NHL season suggested that, for a team down one point where losing 2–0 is no worse than losing 1–0, the ideal time to pull the goalie is somewhere between 5 and 6 minutes from the end of the match. See also Rover (ice hockey) Empty net goal Goalkeeper (association football)#Playmaking and attack - rare situation in association football in which a goalkeeper becomes an attacking player References Ice hockey terminology Ice hockey strategy