While the penalty shot lost some luster with the introduction of the shootout, it still rates among the most exciting moments in the sport.

American Hockey League referees called 41 penalty shots in the first 582 league games through Sunday, which speaks to their relative scarcity.

Goaltenders have the upper hand so far, having stopped 29 of the 41 attempts.

Here are a few more interesting notes pertaining to AHL penalty shots for 2011-12:

• The Hershey Bears have been on both ends of a penalty shot call this season. Nino Niederreiter of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers scored on Braden Holtby at Giant Center on Nov. 13. Jacob Micflikier was stopped by Rochester Americans goalie David Leggio in overtime at Giant Center on Jan. 8.
• Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins goalies Scott Munroe and Brad Thiessen have both stopped penalty shots. Munroe denied Nikita Filatov of the Binghamton Senators on Nov. 26, and Thiessen stopped Carl Klingberg of the St. John’s IceCaps Saturday night.
• Former Bears goalie David Aebischer, now a member of the IceCaps, has already faced three penalty shots. He stopped Dwight King of the Manchester Monarchs on Dec. 16 and Matt Watkins of the Portland Pirates the next night. But Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s Ben Street scored on Aebischer in Saturday night’s game.
• Mark Owuya, who has split his season between the Toronto Marlies and ECHL Reading Royals, stopped penalty shots in both leagues. While playing for Reading, he thwarted ex-Hershey forward Trevor Bruess of the Florida Everblades on Oct. 23. And while playing for the Marlies, he denied Rochester’s Colin Stewart on Nov. 19.
• On 10 dates this season, the AHL had more than one penalty shot called. There were four penalty shots awarded on Dec. 17, and three different dates had three penalty shots.
• And then there’s the case of Milwaukee Admirals goalie Jeremy Smith, who faced – and stopped – Grand Rapids Griffins shooters Chris Conner and Tomas Tatar in the same game on Nov. 19.