Losers, MLB vs NHL

Who’s the loser?

Each time I’ve thought about the logistics of determining the “loser” of record of a hockey game I think about how they do it in baseball. To start off, the aforementioned loser is a goalie in a hockey game and a pitcher in a baseball game.

In MLB, the losing pitcher is the pitcher who gives up the run that puts the other team ahead with a lead they never relinquish.

In the NHL, the losing goalie is whichever one (could also be the only goalie!) that lets in the first goal that his team couldn’t score by the end of the game. That’s a bit complicated, so here’s some examples with my favorite NHL team, the Pittsburgh Penguins.

1. One goalie: Casey DeSmith lets in four goals against the Sabres. The Penguins lose, 6-3. He is the losing goalie.¹
2. Two goalies: Tristan Jarry lets in five goals against the Devils. Casey DeSmith subs in and lets in one more. The Penguins lose, 6-1. Jarry is the losing goalie.²
3. Two goalies: Tristan Jarry lets in four goals against the Rangers. Casey DeSmith subs in and lets in four more. The Penguins trail from the first goal and lose 8-4. DeSmith takes the loss.³

Okay, let’s dissect that third situation. The first goalie let in the scores that put the team at a deficit, and when he’s pulled for the second, the team is still behind. However, since by the end of the game the team has scored as many as Jarry let in, DeSmith is recorded as the losing goalie. The game situation & goalie playing when the Penguins scored the goal to match the last one Jarry gave up (i.e. it was when DeSmith was in the game) doesn’t matter.

In the same context in baseball, the first pitcher who had given up the runs to land the team in a hole would be tagged as the losing pitcher. Even if the team went on to score more than the runs he’d given up it doesn’t matter if the team never stops trailing. If pitchers who come after give up more runs, they still wouldn’t be the pitcher of record.

So, in which league does it make more sense?⁴

One more quarter

As an aside:

It’s easier to assign designated losers in hockey and baseball, and they’re recorded as league-official stats. It’s simplest in baseball, owing to the general lineup of multiple pitchers a game. On the other hand, for example, it’s ridiculous to assign a basketball player losses and in football, the quarterback and team performance generally has a greater link (and there is way more often than not just one quarterback in a professional game).

I’m thinking on it now and I suppose the injury risk to quarterbacks and goalies are not so far off that that is the main determinant, but there are far more games in an NHL season and thus far more games for players - to the point where the backup is expected to play twenty or so games. In the NFL, the backup quarterback is generally not supposed to start any. Additionally, in cases where a team is trailing, it’s more likely for the hockey coach to sub their goalie than for a football coach to switch quarterbacks.