A breakaway foul needs four tests—not merely a lost shot.

The ruleset used on this page

This page applies the International Ice Hockey Federation Official Rule Book 2026/27, Version 1.0 (June 2026), chiefly Rules 15, 24 and 25 and Appendix IV, Table 9. The IIHF states that its latest website version governs all IIHF events and championships.

This is an international ice-hockey baseline, not a universal rule for the NHL, NCAA, USA Hockey, Hockey Canada or every domestic competition. The IIHF book gives an issue month but no separate calendar-day effective date. A competition's appointed rulebook and event regulations control when it uses another code; the material NHL difference is identified below.

How to rule a foul on a breakaway

1. Locate the attacker: the infraction must occur after the attacker has crossed that player's own blue line, in the neutral or attacking zone.
2. Check direction: the infraction must come from behind, except that a goalkeeper may foul from the front in a breakaway situation.
3. Check the puck: the attacker must have possession and control or, in the Referee's judgment, clearly have been about to obtain it.
4. Count defenders: there must be no opponent between the attacker and the goalkeeper.
5. Test the effect: the infraction must deny a reasonable scoring opportunity. Getting a shot away does not settle this if the foul removed a more reasonable chance.
6. Follow the continuation: delay the whistle until the attacking team loses possession. If the fouled player recovers or a teammate gets a reasonable chance, do not award the shot; assess the appropriate penalty if the play does not produce a goal.

A loose puck can still satisfy the test

Rule 24.8 does not require the attacker's stick to be on the puck at the instant of the foul. A penalty shot is possible when the Referee judges that the player clearly would have obtained possession and control. IIHF defines control here as propelling the puck with the stick, hand or feet.

The forecast must still be clear, not speculative. A defender able to reach or legally challenge for the loose puck can defeat the no-intervening-opponent or prospective-control test. A foul before the attacker crosses that player's own blue line also fails the zone test and is handled by the ordinary penalty rule.

Rule 24 has several separate triggers

Appendix IV, Table 9 points officials to penalty-shot provisions beyond the four-part breakaway test. Under IIHF 2026/27 these include:

• Puck in the goal crease: a defending skater other than the goalkeeper falls on, holds, picks up or gathers the puck while the puck is in the crease (Rules 63.6 and 67.4). The puck's location controls; a skater inside the crease gathering a puck outside it receives a minor instead.
• Thrown or shot equipment: a defending-team player, Coach or team personnel throws or shoots a stick or other object at the puck or puck carrier in the defending zone and no goal results, or the object interferes with a breakaway (Rule 53.7).
• Illegal entry or substitution: a player who entered the game illegally interferes with an attacker who has no opponent between the attacker and goalkeeper (Rules 68.3 and 70.7). Separately, Rule 74.4 turns a deliberate “too many players” bench minor into a penalty shot when it cannot be served in full within regulation, and at any time in overtime.
• Deliberate net displacement: Rule 63.6 substitutes a penalty shot when the minor cannot be served in full within regulation, and at any time in overtime.

These are rule-specific awards. They do not all require officials to force the incident through the four foul-from-behind criteria.

IIHF does not require the fouled player to shoot

Under IIHF Rule 24.3, the Coach or Captain selects any non-penalized skater of the non-offending team. The selection is reported to the Referee and cannot then be changed. This applies even when a particular player was fouled.

That is a ruleset-sensitive point. Under the NHL Official Rules 2025–2026, Rule 24.3, the Referee designates the specifically fouled player; when no player was specifically fouled, the Captain chooses from players who were on the ice when the infraction occurred. An injury and certain penalties create stated NHL replacement exceptions. Do not import the NHL shooter rule into an IIHF game.

One continuous attempt, with no playable rebound

Under IIHF Rule 24.2, the puck is placed on the centre face-off spot. On the Referee's whistle the selected skater plays it from there and attacks the goalkeeper. The puck must remain in motion toward the opponent's goal line. The attempt ends once the puck is shot, crosses the goal line or comes to a complete stop.

The shooter cannot play a rebound. The narrow scoring sequence expressly allowed is puck off a post or crossbar, then off the goalkeeper and directly into the goal. A legal lacrosse-style move is possible if the puck is never raised above shoulder height and is not carried above the crossbar when released. A completed 360-degree “spin-o-rama” approach is prohibited and ends with no goal.

Review: IIHF Rule 37.3(X) makes the legitimacy of a potential penalty-shot goal reviewable for compliance with the attempt rules—for example, early goalkeeper movement, a thrown stick, a dislodged goal, an illegal spin or a second play on a rebound. That listed goal review is not a general replay of the Referee's earlier judgment that the four Rule 24.8 award criteria were met.

The goalkeeper must wait for the first puck touch

Only a designated goalkeeper or alternate goalkeeper may defend. The goalkeeper must remain in the crease until the shooter touches the puck. If the defending team had removed its goalkeeper for an extra skater, the goalkeeper may return for the attempt.

The defending team may change goalkeepers for the shot, but that substitute must remain in the game until the next stoppage. All other players withdraw to the sides of the rink in front of their own benches while the attempt is taken.

Play out the attempt before deciding on a retake

Rule 24.4 tells the Referee to let the attempt continue when the goalkeeper leaves the crease early or commits an infraction. A goal stands. If a minor-level goalkeeper infraction causes the attempt to fail, no minor is assessed and the attempt is retaken. A second violation followed by failure brings a misconduct and another attempt; a third brings a game misconduct and an awarded goal under IIHF 2026/27.

A goalkeeper major that causes failure brings the appropriate penalty and a retake. Throwing a stick or object, deliberately removing the helmet or face mask, or deliberately dislodging the goal during the attempt produces an awarded goal.

An accidental displacement has three possible outcomes

If the goalkeeper accidentally dislodges the goal while trying to save, Rule 24.4 requires a judgment. Award the goal if the puck would have entered the area normally occupied by the net. Order a retake if the attempt did not score and the Referee cannot determine that it would have entered. If the goal is displaced only after the puck has crossed the goal line and ended the attempt, the attempt is already complete.

Bench conduct can change the result

If a defending player, Coach or team personnel distracts or interferes with the shooter and that causes a failed attempt, IIHF Rule 24.4 gives a retake and a bench minor. An identifiable player responsible also receives a misconduct; a responsible Coach or team staff member receives a game misconduct and is reported for possible further discipline.

If the shooting team's player, Coach or team personnel distracts the goalkeeper and the attempt succeeds because of it, the goal is disallowed and that team receives a bench minor. Spectator interference with either participant permits a retake.

The shot normally replaces one minor, not every sanction

If the infraction underlying the penalty shot would normally be a minor, IIHF Rule 24.6 says that minor is not served, whether the attempt scores or misses. A major or misconduct required for the act is still imposed. For a double-minor or a separate additional minor on the play, the first minor is replaced by the shot and the second two-minute portion is served.

A goal on the penalty shot does not end an unrelated minor already on the clock. If two separate infractions create two penalty shots at the same stoppage, only one goal may be scored or awarded: if the first attempt scores, the second is not taken and the appropriate penalty for that second infraction is served.

The period can expire before the shot is taken

For a qualifying breakaway foul, Rule 24.8 delays the whistle until the attacking team loses possession to the defending team. That continuation decides whether a reasonable opportunity was truly lost. If the attack restores a reasonable chance, there is no penalty shot; if it scores, no scoring opportunity remains to restore and the underlying penalty provisions apply.

Rule 24.7 still requires the penalty shot when the infraction occurred during playing time but the delayed whistle takes the clock to zero. Time used for the attempt is not part of regulation or overtime. After a successful attempt the face-off is at centre; after a miss it is normally at an end-zone face-off spot, subject to Rule 24.5 exceptions.

An empty net changes the remedy only when every test is met

Under Rules 25.1 and 25.3, an awarded goal replaces the penalty shot when the defending goalkeeper has been removed and an attacker has possession and control—or clearly would gain it—in the neutral or attacking zone, no defender is between that attacker and the goal, and a defending-team infraction prevents the scoring opportunity.

“The net looked open” is not enough. If the goalkeeper remains on the ice, even after the attacker has skated around the goalkeeper, a qualifying foul produces a penalty shot rather than the Rule 25.1 open-net award. Separately, Rule 25.2 permits an awarded goal with the goalkeeper still on the ice when a defending player displaces the goal and an imminent scoring chance was prevented, provided the puck would have entered between the goal posts in their normal position.

A weak shot after a hook

Situation: Red has controlled the puck beyond Red's own blue line, with only the goalkeeper ahead. Blue hooks Red from behind. Red stays upright but can release only a hurried, off-balance shot.

IIHF 2026/27 ruling: a penalty shot is still available under Rule 24.8 if the Referee judges that the hook denied a more reasonable scoring opportunity. Merely getting a shot away does not cancel the four-part test.

The foul happens before the blue line

Situation: Red is about to reach a loose puck in Red's own defending zone and would then have a clear route to goal, but Blue trips Red before Red crosses the blue line.

IIHF 2026/27 ruling: no penalty shot under Rule 24.8 because the infraction occurred in the attacker's defending zone. Assess the applicable tripping penalty. The likely future breakaway cannot replace the express zone condition.

A teammate restores the chance

Situation: Red is hooked from behind with no defender between Red and the goalkeeper, but the loose puck goes directly to Red 2, who has an immediate reasonable chance to score before Blue gains possession.

IIHF 2026/27 ruling: no penalty shot if the Referee judges Red 2's chance genuinely restored the opportunity. If the play does not produce a goal, assess the appropriate penalty for the original hook.

The puck—not the skater—is outside the crease

Situation: a defending skater lies inside the goal crease and gathers the puck into the body, but the puck is outside the crease at that instant.

IIHF 2026/27 ruling: no penalty shot under Rule 63.6. The decisive fact is the puck's location, not the skater's. Assess the applicable minor; if the puck had been in the crease, the penalty-shot provision would apply.

Four shortcuts that produce the wrong ruling

• “Any last-defender foul is a penalty shot.” Rule 24.8 asks whether any opponent was between attacker and goalkeeper and requires all the other tests; “last defender” is not the complete standard.
• “A shot got away, so it can only be a minor.” The question is whether the foul removed a more reasonable scoring chance.
• “The fouled player must take it.” Not under IIHF 2026/27; that is a notable NHL rule for a specifically fouled player.
• “A penalty-shot goal ends the existing power play.” Rule 24.6 says no existing penalty expires because a penalty shot scores.

Governing-body sources and effective versions

• International Ice Hockey Federation — Official Rule Book 2026/27, Version 1.0 (June 2026): Rules 15.1 and 15.4, 24.1–24.8, 25.1–25.3, 37.3(X), 53.7–53.8, 63.6–63.7, 67.2 and 67.4, 68.3, 70.7–70.8, 74.4; Appendix IV, Tables 9–10
• International Ice Hockey Federation — Rules, Regulations & Guidelines: current-version notice and 2026/27 rulebook listing
• National Hockey League — Official Rules 2025–2026: Rules 24.3–24.4 (limited shooter-selection and goalkeeper-violation comparison)
• National Hockey League — Video Rulebook: official 2025–26 rulebook download and penalty-shot resources

Checked on 27 August 2026 against the IIHF Official Rule Book 2026/27, Version 1.0 issued in June 2026, and the IIHF notice that only its latest published version governs IIHF events and championships. The NHL comparison is limited to the two stated Rule 24 differences. NCAA, national-association, age-grade and tournament rules are not blended into the IIHF ruling and may supplement or replace it.