NHL API – Team Game Number

We've added a game_number attribute to the team objects in all Game endpoints of our NHL API.

game_number reports where the game falls within that team's own season schedule, counted from its first game. A team playing its fourth game of the season carries game_number="4". Because the two teams in a given matchup may be on different points in their schedules, the home and away values will often differ.

📌
XML structure differs by endpoint. In Game Play-by-Play XML, game_number is an attribute of the <home> and <away> elements, which are nested inside a <scoring> wrapper. In every other affected Game endpoint, the XML wraps each side in a <team> element (identified by home="true" / home="false"), and game_number sits on that element. JSON stays under the home and away objects across every endpoint.

⭐ Benefit

Show where a game falls in each team's season — "Game 4 of the season" — without counting games yourself from a schedule feed, and align your display with the league's own game-number references.

📋 Recommended Actions

Read game_number from each side's own team object in any Game endpoint response.
JSON (all endpoints): read home.game_number and away.game_number.
XML (Game Play-by-Play): read the game_number attribute from the <home> and <away> elements nested inside the <scoring> wrapper.
XML (all other Game endpoints): read the game_number attribute from each <team> element; use the home="true" / home="false" attribute to tell the sides apart.
Expect the home and away values to differ on most matchups, since teams rarely enter a game at the same point in their schedules.

🔢 Products

Sport	Product	Version(s)
Ice Hockey	NHL API	v7

🔁 Endpoints Affected

☑️ Sample Requests:

Game Boxscore

curl --request GET \
     --url https://api.sportradar.com/nhl/trial/v7/en/games/071e0945-ae0a-4f07-bb05-c450b509e613/boxscore.json \
     --header 'accept: application/json' \
     --header 'x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY'

Game Summary

curl --request GET \
     --url https://api.sportradar.com/nhl/trial/v7/en/games/071e0945-ae0a-4f07-bb05-c450b509e613/summary.json \
     --header 'accept: application/json' \
     --header 'x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY'

⚙️ Return Samples

<game xmlns="http://feed.elasticstats.com/schema/hockey/game-v7.0.xsd" id="071e0945-ae0a-4f07-bb05-c450b509e613" status="closed" coverage="full" scheduled="2026-10-14T03:00:00+00:00" attendance="14748" entry_mode="INGEST" start_time="2026-10-14T03:15:00+00:00" end_time="2026-10-14T05:48:54+00:00" total_game_duration="60:00" clock="00:00" period="3" sr_id="sr:match:72909036" reference="20105" clock_decimal="00:00" is_outdoors="false" is_all_star_game="false" home_team="44155909-0f24-11e2-8525-18a905767e44" away_team="4416ba1a-0f24-11e2-8525-18a905767e44">
    <broadcasts>
        <broadcast type="TV" locale="National" network="ESPN" channel="206"/>
        <broadcast type="TV" locale="Away" network="NESN" channel="628"/>
        <broadcast type="Internet" locale="International" network="SN+"/>
    </broadcasts>
    <season id="7feada34-0b0d-44f2-8d0d-cb9d2ce14a2e" year="2026" type="REG"/>
    <time_zones venue="US/Pacific" home="US/Pacific" away="US/Eastern"/>
    <team id="44155909-0f24-11e2-8525-18a905767e44" name="Sharks" market="San Jose" points="3" sr_id="sr:team:3696" reference="28" game_number="6" strength="even" home="true">
        <record wins="3" losses="3" overtime_losses="0"/>
        <scoring>
            <period number="1" sequence="1" points="1"/>
            <period number="2" sequence="2" points="1"/>
            <period number="3" sequence="3" points="1"/>
        </scoring>
    ...

{
    "id": "071e0945-ae0a-4f07-bb05-c450b509e613",
    "status": "closed",
    "coverage": "full",
    "scheduled": "2026-10-14T03:00:00+00:00",
    "sr_id": "sr:match:72909036",
    "reference": "20105",
    "season": {
        "id": "7feada34-0b0d-44f2-8d0d-cb9d2ce14a2e",
        "year": 2026,
        "type": "REG"
    },
    "home": {
        "id": "44155909-0f24-11e2-8525-18a905767e44",
        "name": "Sharks",
        "market": "San Jose",
        "points": 3,
        "sr_id": "sr:team:3696",
        "reference": "28",
        "game_number": 6,
        "strength": "even",
        "record": {
            "wins": 3,
            "losses": 3,
            "overtime_losses": 0
        }
    },
    ...
}

<game xmlns="http://feed.elasticstats.com/schema/hockey/pbp-v7.0.xsd" id="071e0945-ae0a-4f07-bb05-c450b509e613" status="closed" coverage="full" scheduled="2026-10-14T03:00:00+00:00" attendance="14748" entry_mode="INGEST" start_time="2026-10-14T03:15:00+00:00" end_time="2026-10-14T05:48:54+00:00" total_game_duration="60:00" clock="00:00" period="3" sr_id="sr:match:72909036" reference="20105" clock_decimal="00:00" is_outdoors="false" is_all_star_game="false" home_team="44155909-0f24-11e2-8525-18a905767e44" away_team="4416ba1a-0f24-11e2-8525-18a905767e44">
    <broadcasts>
        <broadcast type="TV" locale="National" network="ESPN" channel="206"/>
        <broadcast type="TV" locale="Away" network="NESN" channel="628"/>
        <broadcast type="Internet" locale="International" network="SN+"/>
    </broadcasts>
    <season id="7feada34-0b0d-44f2-8d0d-cb9d2ce14a2e" year="2026" type="REG"/>
    <time_zones venue="US/Pacific" home="US/Pacific" away="US/Eastern"/>
    <scoring>
        <home id="44155909-0f24-11e2-8525-18a905767e44" name="Sharks" market="San Jose" points="3" sr_id="sr:team:3696" reference="28" game_number="6" strength="even"/>
        <away id="4416ba1a-0f24-11e2-8525-18a905767e44" name="Bruins" market="Boston" points="6" sr_id="sr:team:3677" reference="6" game_number="7" strength="even"/>
    </scoring>
    ...

{
    "id": "071e0945-ae0a-4f07-bb05-c450b509e613",
    "status": "closed",
    "sr_id": "sr:match:72909036",
    "home": {
        "id": "44155909-0f24-11e2-8525-18a905767e44",
        "name": "Sharks",
        "market": "San Jose",
        "points": 3,
        "sr_id": "sr:team:3696",
        "reference": "28",
        "game_number": 6,
        "strength": "even"
    },
    "away": {
        "id": "4416ba1a-0f24-11e2-8525-18a905767e44",
        "name": "Bruins",
        "market": "Boston",
        "points": 6,
        "sr_id": "sr:team:3677",
        "reference": "6",
        "game_number": 7,
        "strength": "even"
    },
    ...
}