Et le but!
The hockey researchers I spoke to are quite divided over this issue.
If you want to get them really riled up, ask these guys which is more important: Total saves or save percentage for a goalie?
I brought up the point about the tournament style hockey to the hockey researchers (on their listserv through a friend who subscribes) and apparently the Soviets wouldn’t pull the goalie EVER. Regardless of the situation.
The Soviet hockey system firmly believed that the chance of giving up an empty net goal and falling behind by 2 goals was always so much greater than getting a tying goal that they would never pull the goalie for an extra attacker.
Presumably, the Soviets would pull the goalie in a delayed penalty situation where the opponents cannot score unless you score in to your own goal.
It should be noted that in some tournaments, goals scored and goals allowed can be used as tiebreakers for elimination. In such an competition, allowing an empty-netter could hurt you, and refusing to pull the goaltender in that context makes sense.
I have no idea if the Soviet teams ever played in such tournaments. I’ve normally only seen such tiebreaking rules used in soccer, where scoreless ties are thoroughly common. Hockey is less likely to yield scoreless games, although they used to be more common than they are now.
It has been a very long time since we DIDN’T have regular season overtime - 19 years, actually.
19 years? It can’t have been that long. Are you sure about that?
And it was a Power Play goal to boot. That was a first.
The LA Kings pulled their goalie in OT this year late in the season in a game against Columbus. They had to get 2 points or be eliminated from the playoffs.
They gave up an empty-netter and lost. Even if they had won, their chances of making the playoffs were still remote.