Overtime in hockey is one of the most thrilling aspects of the sport. When a game goes into overtime at the professional level, the teams play a sudden-death period, meaning the first team to score wins. The game can go on for an unlimited amount of time until one team scores a goal. The length of overtime differs between the regular season and overtime.
Regular-Season Overtime
Teams compete in a game that is 60 minutes long. The game is divided into three 20-minute periods. If the game is tied at the end of third period, the two teams play a five-minute, sudden-death overtime period. In an effort to help increase scoring, the regular-season overtime period is played with four skaters and a goalie per team. During the first three periods, the game is played with five skaters and a goalie skating for each side.
No Scoring In Overtime
If the two teams cannot break the tie in a regular-season overtime game, the two teams will go to a shootout to decide the game. In a shootout, three skaters from each team will take penalty shots against the opponent's goaltender. They will execute this in alternating fashion. The home team gets its choice of whether to shoot last or first. The team with the most goals after three rounds wins the game. If the tie is not broken after three shooters per side, the shootout continues until one team scores and the opponent does not.
Playoff Overtime
When the regular season ends and the playoffs start, the National Hockey League changes its rules for overtime. Instead of playing a five-minute overtime period, the two teams play a 20-minute, sudden-death overtime period. The overtime is also played with a full complement of five skaters and a goalie on each team. If neither team scores in the first overtime, the extra periods continue until one team scores to end the game.
Overtime Record
The longest overtime game was played March 24, 1936 between the Montreal Maroons and the Detroit Red Wings. The game was scoreless for three periods and went to overtime. There was no scoring through five 20-minute overtime periods, but in the sixth overtime period, Detroit's Mud Bruneteau scored on a short shot to give the Wings the 1-0 victory.
References
- NHL.com: Overtime Games
- NHL.com: Overtime Rules
- 2010-11 National Hockey League Rulebook; National Hockey League Publishing; 2010
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