Intentional Offside

Intentional Offside is an offside deliberately caused by a player for the purpose of stopping play. Intentional offsides are rare and usually occur on a delayed offside when a player will shoot the puck in the opposing zone with one of his teammates already in that zone. The player already in the zone cannot play the puck and causes an intentional offside if he touches the puck, after which the referee will call a stoppage in play.

Causing an intentional offside may be useful for a team trying to get a line change when its players on the ice are tired because they were not able to retreat to the bench after an extended shift. Because the player causing the intentional offside is technically not allowed to play the puck, causing an intentional offside carries a consequence that the next face-off will take place in the zone of the team who caused the intentional offside after play is stopped.

However, if the player already in the opposing zone is deemed to be making an effort to leave the zone but makes contact with the puck or the pucks gets into the zone before he can leave, the offside call is ruled unintentional and the face-off resulting from the stoppage of play will take place in the neutral zone.