Only two assists are recorded for any goal scored, which is fair enough, The intent of counting assists is to record play making ability, also a good idea, This being said, the NHL records an assist for a scoring attempt which is blocked or otherwise deflected by the goalie, which then, obviously unintentionally, may bounce to another attacking forward who then scores.
So how is an assist? A failed scoring attempt somehow is adjudicated to be a pass to a team mate to yield a goal ? Bizarre once again.
On a similar theme, if A passes to B who passed to C who scores, the points then are (1) assist to A, (2) assist to B and (3) goal to C. That is easy enough.
So if A passes to B and B returns the pass to A who scores, why does it not follow that the points would be (1) assist to A, (2) assist to B, and (3) goal to A. For some reason, A is limited to the point for a goal. It should theoretically follow, that if A’s pass could be an assist when C scores, it should be an assist when A scores. It was the same play making ability that led to the goal in either instance.