NHL Playoffs overtime rules: What to know for 2022 (2024)

FAQs

What are the NHL overtime rules for the playoffs in 2022? ›

NHL playoff overtime rules 2022-23

If the game is tied after regulation, the two teams will play a full 20-minute period of overtime. Unlike the regular season, which features 3 on 3, the extra frames in the postseason are at 5 on 5. It's sudden-death style, so the first team to score wins the contest.

What are the overtime rules in the regular season of the NHL? If a regular season tilt remains tied after three periods, it goes to overtime. Overtime is a five-minute period where the first team to score wins the game. The overtime period is played three-on-three, with each team having three skaters on the ice.

All overtime periods will be 3-on-3 regardless of round robin or preliminary (five minutes with a three-round shootout), knockout rounds including third place games (ten minutes with a five-round shootout), or the championship (twenty minutes, no shootout).

First a reminder that the first tie-breaker is regulation wins (RW), which are all the wins you've accumulated minus those in overtime or the shootout. If teams have the same number of regulation wins, the second tie-breaker is regulation and overtime wins (ROW), so only the shootout is excluded.

Overtime rules in the postseason consist of as many 15-minute periods as are necessary until there is a winner, instead of the single 10-minute overtime period in the regular season. Both teams will now get at least one possession, even if the team that has the first possession scores a touchdown.

Unlike regular season games, postseason games cannot end in a tie, so the overtime rules change slightly for the playoffs. If the score is still tied at the end of an overtime period — or if the second team's initial possession has not ended — the teams will play another overtime period.

In seriousness, there is no limit to the number of overtime periods played in the NHL Playoffs. Instead of deferring to a shootout style like in the regular season, the game is determined in action when it comes to the playoffs.

In shootouts, despite the fact that a “goal” doesn't actually occur, it doesn't matter. While no individual will get credit for that “goal,” your over or under bet still relies on the final tally to settle wagers.

The full section of the NHL rule book on playoff overtime can be found here. 3 on 3 regular season overtime began in the 2015-16 season where the old format prior was five on five until 1999 and four on four. Both teams earned a point if nobody scored in overtime.

Why did NHL go to 3 on 3 overtime? ›

The 3-on-3 overtime is designed to create more space on the ice, allowing for more goals to be scored and more games ending in overtime rather than the shootout, similar to the success that the American Hockey League experienced this season.

Playoffs continued to have 20-minute sudden-death OT periods. Over 40 years later, the NHL reimplemented the OT period, this time with a five-minute, sudden-death period. The league continued with the 5-on-5 format until 1999, when it changed to 4-on-4 play for the regular season.

NHL® Playoffs are a best of seven series. The home-ice advantage goes to the team with the higher seed and the games are played in a 2-2-1-1-1 format. This format means the team with the higher seed will host games one, two, five, and seven, while the lower seed will host games three, four and six.

What are the overtime rules in the regular season of the NHL? If the score remains tied after three periods, the game goes to overtime. Overtime is a five-minute period where the first team to score wins the game. The overtime period is played three-on-three, with each team having three skaters on the ice.

In a playoff, a 20-minute overtime is added continuously if the play ends in a tie. The additional time follows the sudden death 5-on-5 pattern. If the game ends in a tie in the first overtime, then a second one ensues. It continues until one of the teams secures a goal and claims the title.

The intention of NHL playoff games is to end the game with play as similar to regulation as possible. Due to this, the shootout has never been a part of the NHL Playoffs. Sudden-death style overtime does lead to some longer games.

Any regular-season game that ends regulation play with a tie score will go into a five-minute sudden-death overtime period. If at the end of that overtime period the game remains tied, the game will then go into a shootout.

At the NHL level of hockey, a game cannot end in a tie. If the game is tied at the end of regulation time, the teams will play a 5 minute overtime, and if no goal is scored the game will be decided by a shootout. However, in the NCAA and recreational levels games can end in a tie.