Dozens of Pucks A dozen pucks are used in an average NHL game. Players must utilize frozen pucks, which are easier to manage than normal pucks, but thaw fast. As a result, they are continually replaced by officials, with an average of 12 appearing in each game, however as many as 22 have been recorded. The number of shots taken in an NHL game is very high. There have been games where over 500 shots have been fired! The most ever recorded in a game was 993 by Cam Neely and the Boston Bruins in 1979. The current record is 995 shots by Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals in 2007. An NHL game lasts for about two hours, so the shooters need to be recharged every 20 minutes or so. This gives them a total of four rounds to hit as many pucks as possible before the end of the first period. During the second period, they will again need to be refreshed for another four shots at hitting balls into the net. In conclusion, there are a lot of shots taken in an NHL game because players need to keep shooting even though they are getting tired. The majority of the shots miss the goal because they are frozen pucks, but some do make it in nonetheless.