What advantages exactly does a home team have in nhl?

I know there's the obvious, the crowd and atmosphere. And that the home team gets to choose if they want to shoot first in the shoot out, and the away team gets to put their stick on the ice first on faceoffs. Are there other differences in playing home vs away?

There are many advantages to playing at home.

1. The home team gets to make the last change. This is jey as it allows the home coach to put out the guys he wants against the other teams lines. E.g. The top line goes out for the road team, the home team can put their checking line out against them.

2. The faceoff is huge. 2 or 3 extra face off wins can make the difference in the game. Look at the faceoff win that let to the 2nd goals by the Islanders tonight. It was pulled clean back to the point for a shot and a goal. The home team does get to put their stick down second.

3. Choice of shooting first or second in overtime is given to the home team.

4. The feel of the arena, not only on the ice but being in your own locker room. Sleeping in your own bed the night before the game and having your family and fans there to cheer you on.

The list goes on and on.

I think that it is the whole atmosphere at home.

And a perfect example of home ice advantage was the first playoff game of the sens and the pens.

sens refs sucked...mostly because they gave the sens practically nothing compared to pittsburgh.

better calls.

better atmosphere.

they just play better all around.

well every rink has teir own specs different boards giving different bounces but i beleive in todays game thee is a very slim advantage during a home game s everyone expects

Line changes prior to face offs. Visiting bench must send out their players first, then the home team. This works well if you want your top defense or your best defensive forwards on the ice against the visitors' best line.

Home ice used to be a bigger advantage than it is when each rink had different dimensions. Now all are so similar, that doesn't seem to matter as the playoff records would indicate.

It's all about the hometown FANS

and YES, they do influence the referees!!!!

Also, every arenas ice is a little bit different. Some have very hard ice (i.e. , Detroit, Minnesota) while others have very soft ice (Aneheim, San Jose, Dallas). It plays and skates very differently!

Home team also gets to change last on play stoppages. This is advantageous because then the home team can put out the player matchups that they want

you might have a better sleep than the road team if you play more than one in a row at home

I believe the home team (but I'm only 90% sure) has another advantage in that the away team has to have their line on the ice first. This way the home coach can create different player matchups at face offs to their advantage. Also players know the rink a bit better. They know how the puck reacts off the boards, the height of the glass in the defensive zone, and they only have cold running water in the showers for the away team.