As a Toronto Maple Leafs fan, there are many calls made by the officials that I question game to game, season to season, regular season to playoffs. However, taking off my Maple Leafs’ coloured glasses, every fanbase complains about the officiating. I have no data to support this next claim, but I would wager that the majority of hockey fans say the words “game management” multiple times a season.
One aspect I see being discussed and that I have seen myself is that whenever a team is holding a lead, they tend to be assessed more minor penalties than their opposition. However, does the data back up the “eye test”?
In this article, I will look at minor penalties assessed to NHL teams during the 2022–23, 2023–24, and the 2024–present (Jan. 4, 2025) regular seasons. The overarching question is: Do teams with a lead get assessed more minor penalties than when not leading a game?
Methodology
Play-by-play data was pulled through an NHL API. Penalty and goals-scored datasets were created and merged. The data was filtered to include only minor penalties. Whenever a minor penalty was assessed, the data was categorized according to the following game situations:
- Before any team scored;
- The leading team was assessed a minor penalty;
- The trailing team was assessed a minor penalty; or
- A minor penalty was assessed when the game was tied
NHL Standings data over the regular seasons of interest was collected from NHL.com and merged with the above datasets. The data was then aggregated.
Teams are generally assessed more penalties when holding a lead
Figure 1. Figure showing the trend lines for all minor penalties assessed by the game situation for all NHL teams (in alphabetical order) from the 2022–23 – 2024–25 regular seasons.
As shown in Figure 1, teams are generally assessed more minor penalties when holding a lead as opposed to in other game situations. Minor penalties assessed to teams before any team scores or when there is a tie game are generally applied fairly.
Let’s take a deeper look into the top 10 of the highest number of minor penalties assessed by game situations by NHL teams.
The Maple Leafs are one of the most penalized teams when leading the game
Overall, there are several “good” teams (in terms of points in the standings) where the highest number of minor penalties were taken while leading a game as opposed to other game situations.
Table 1. Table showing the top 10 highest number of minor penalties assessed by game situation from the 2022-23 – 2024-25 regular seasons.
| Rank | Team | Game Situation | Number of Minor Penalties Assessed | Total Minor Penalties Taken Rank | Total Points in Standings Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FLA | Leading | 392 | 1 | 11 |
| 2 | ANA | Trailing | 368 | 2 | 30 |
| 3 | BOS | Leading | 324 | 3 | 1 |
| 4 | CAR | Leading | 322 | 12 | 2 |
| 5 | TOR | Leading | 319 | 13 | 5 |
| 6 | LAK | Leading | 319 | 10 | 10 |
| 7 | MTL | Trailing | 313 | 5 | 28 |
| 8 | EDM | Leading | 300 | 15 | 7 |
| 9 | TBL | Leading | 296 | 9 | 14 |
| 10 | COL | Leading | 295 | 20 | 6 |
It’s no surprise that the top three minor penalty takers, the Florida Panthers, the Anaheim Ducks, and the Boston Bruins over this period, are the top three teams with the highest number of minor penalties assessed in a game situation.
Perhaps surprising are teams like the Maple Leafs who rank near the middle in total minor penalties taken from 2022–2025, but are tied for fifth with the Los Angeles Kings in being assessed the highest amount of minor penalties while leading a game.
One issue with using raw counts is that there are going to be teams that are assessed more or less minor penalties than other teams (which is interesting in and of itself). However, if we look at the proportion of the minor penalties assessed by the game situation for each NHL team, this will help control this variation.
Proportionally, the Maple Leafs are the highest-penalized team when leading a game
As with the above, there are several “good” teams (in terms of points in the standings) where their highest proportion of minor penalties were taken while leading a game as opposed to other game situations.
Table 2. Table showing the top 10 highest proportions of minor penalties assessed by game situation during the 2022-23 – 2024-25 regular seasons.
| Rank | Team | Game Situation | Percentage of Total Minor Penalties Assessed | Total Minor Penalties Taken Rank | Total Points in Standings Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CAR | Leading | 47% | 12 | 2 |
| 2 | TOR | Leading | 47% | 13 | 5 |
| 3 | LAK | Leading | 46% | 10 | 10 |
| 4 | FLA | Leading | 46% | 1 | 11 |
| 5 | COL | Leading | 45% | 20 | 6 |
| 6 | ANA | Trailing | 45% | 2 | 30 |
| 7 | EDM | Leading | 44% | 15 | 7 |
| 8 | WPG | Leading | 44% | 25 | 8 |
| 9 | TBL | Leading | 42% | 9 | 14 |
| 10 | VGK | Leading | 42% | 32 | 4 |
The Carolina Hurricanes and Toronto Maple Leafs have the highest proportion of their minor penalties assessed while leading a game with 47%, and rank near the middle of the pack in the number of minor penalties taken over the 2022–23 – 2024–25 regular seasons.
When looking at teams like the Colorado Avalanche, 45% of their minor penalties came when they were leading a game, but they ranked 20th in the league in the number of minor penalties taken over the time period.
Another angle we can look at is the period in which teams take the highest proportion of their minor penalties.
The Maple Leafs are among the highest teams assessed minor penalties while leading in the second and third periods
Figure 2. Graph showing the top 10 highest proportions of minor penalties taken by period, by game situation, and by team during the 2022-23 – 2024-25 regular seasons.
The Maple Leafs are assessed 22% of their total minor penalties while leading a game in the second period which is the highest out of any team. They are tied for fourth with having been assessed 17% of their minor penalties in the third period. In line with the aggregate data in Table 2, several good teams are assessed the highest proportion of their minor penalties in the second and third periods when leading.
But good teams have the lead more
One could say that “good” teams tend to have the lead more, and therefore it makes sense why these teams have the largest count or largest proportion of their minor penalties assessed while having a lead.
At face value, this seems like an appealing explanation. But should it not go both ways? Shouldn’t “bad” teams have less skill, be probably more undisciplined in games, and as a result take more minor penalties while trailing and/or leading a game?
However, as we found, the only two “bad” teams to have taken their highest amount or highest proportion of minor penalties in the top 10 were the Anaheim Ducks and/or the Montreal Canadiens while trailing.
Is this quantitative evidence of game management?
We know game management exists in several forms, such as “make-up” calls. In some cases, penalties are called very arbitrarily, for example, former referee Tim Peel said he wanted to call a penalty on the Nashville Predators vs. the Detroit Red Wings which resulted in him getting fired in 2021.
While it may be appealing to say, “Look! The officials are giving the losing team a chance to make the game close!” I don’t believe the above should be construed as the highest quantitative evidence possible for game management. There could be many factors influencing the high-level trends we are seeing.
But as a biased Maple Leafs’ fan? Yeah, this is totally evidence of the game management I have observed over the years.
