The Duration Of A Hockey Match

The standard length of a hockey game is 60 minutes. However, the exact length of the game can vary depending on the particular point in the season. Games that are tied go into overtime, and the length of that overtime changes depending on whether the game is a playoff game or regular-season game.

Regular Season Game

A National Hockey League regular-season game is 60 minutes in length. The game is divided into three 20-minute periods. There is a 15-minute break between periods to give the players a break and to allow arena officials to resurface the ice. If the game is tied at the end of 60 minutes, a five-minute sudden death period is played. The regular-season sudden death is played with each team using four skaters and a goaltender, compared to the five skaters and the goaltender that teams use in regulation time.

Shootout

If neither team scores in the five-minute sudden death overtime period, the game will be decided by a shootout. Teams will alternate taking penalty shots -- one skater goes in alone on a breakaway from center ice -- to win the game. Each team will get three shots. If the game is still tied after taking three shots each, the team will continue to alternate until one team scores and the opponent misses.

Playoff Overtime

Once teams get to the playoffs at the conclusion of the regular season, playoff overtime has a dramatic impact on the length of games. Instead of playing a 5-minute overtime period with five players on the ice, teams play 20-minute overtime periods with the full complement of six players on the ice. The overtime is sudden death format. As soon as either team scores, the game is over. However, if a 20-minute overtime concludes without a goal, the game continues in that format until a goal is scored. The Detroit Red Wings and Montreal Maroons played the longest overtime game in NHL history March 24, 1936. The Red Wings won the game 1-0 when Mud Bruneteau scored the only goal of the game after 116:30 of extra play. The two teams played the near equivalent of three full games.

Flying Goal

The NHL's signature has been defined by some of its overtime games. One of the most famous overtime games was Bobby Orr's flying goal against the St. Louis Blues that gave Boston Bruins the 1970 Stanley Cup. With the Bruins leading the Stanley Cup Finals three games to zero, the fourth game at the venerable Boston Garden went into overtime on May 10, 1970 tied at 3-3. Early in the overtime period, Orr had the puck in the offensive zone and passed to teammate Derek Sanderson behind the St. Louis net. Sanderson fed Orr a slick return pass and Orr wristed it into the net. As he let go of the shot, Orr was tripped by St. Louis defenseman Noel Picard. Orr had already started to celebrate and he extended his arms as he flew up in the air and appeared to take flight. The goal gave Boston its first Stanley Cup in 29 years