Overtime (sports) - Ice Hockey

Ice Hockey

Ties are common in ice hockey due to the game's low-scoring nature. If the score is tied at the end of regulation play, certain leagues play overtime.

• NHL (regular season): If a game is tied after regulation time (three 20-minute periods), the teams play in a sudden death five-minute overtime period, with a goaltender and four skaters per side (as opposed to the standard five). If nobody scores in the overtime period, the teams engage in a "penalty shootout" where 3 skaters, selected by the head coaches on the teams, go one-on-one against the opposing goaltender, taking the puck at center ice for a "penalty shot." If the shootout remains tied after the initial 3 rounds, the shootout continues in a sudden-death fashion; no player may participate in a shootout twice unless the entire active roster has been exhausted, which so far has never happened. The greatest number of shooters in a single shootout was 30 during a game between the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals. Rangers defensemen Marek Malik gave New York a 3–2 shootout and game victory on a trick move.

The 5-minute overtime period was introduced for regular season games beginning with the 1983–84 NHL season, but with teams at full strength on the ice. Overtime in the regular season was reduced to four skaters a side starting in the 2000–2001 season. The "shootout" was introduced for the 2005–06 NHL regular season.

• NHL (post-season): Following an intermission, an additional full 20-minute period is played. Teams remain at full strength unless this is affected by penalties during the third period. A goal ends the game in sudden death; if neither team scores, another intermission is taken, followed by an additional overtime period. The teams change ends of the ice for each period. This has made for lengthy games in the history of the NHL playoffs, with some games going as far as five or six overtimes before the deciding goal is scored.
• NCAA (regular season): If a game is tied at the end of regulation, the teams play a sudden-death 5-minute overtime. Both teams play at full strength, unless affected by penalties. If neither team scores during overtime, the game ends in a tie.
• NCAA (in-season tournaments): For tournaments held during the season (such as the Beanpot and Great Lakes Invitational), in which advancement or determination of a champion is necessary, organizers have the option of either using the post-season overtime procedure or using the regular-season procedure followed by a penalty shootout. Statistics from a shootout are not counted by the NCAA, and a game decided by a shootout is considered a tie for NCAA tournament selection purposes.
• NCAA (post-season): Same as the NHL overtime procedure above, except that all overtimes are played with the teams defending the same ends as for the third period. Games decided in overtime are considered wins or losses rather than ties, regardless of how many overtimes are played.
• International (round robin): As of the 2007 IIHF World Championships, the IIHF instituted the "three point rule", which not only awarded the winning team three points for a regulation win, but awarded them two points for a win in a 5 minute overtime period or a Game Winning Shot (shootout). Games in IIHF round robins can therefore no longer end in a tie. In the World Cup of Hockey in 2004, the NHL's tiebreaking procedure at the time was followed: there was a five-minute sudden death period at four skaters per side, and if the score remained tied after the overtime period, it stood as a tie. The game between Sweden and Finland ended in a 4–4 tie after 65 minutes.
• International (medal rounds): Various tiebreaking procedures have been used for international tournaments, with all of them save one (World Cup of Hockey 2004) following a common theme: one period varying in length of sudden-death overtime followed by a shootout of five skaters per side (as opposed to the NHL's three skaters per side; it also differs in that if the shootout does not resolve the tie, the same five skaters then shoot again). The length of the overtime period has varied between 5, 10, and 20 minutes, and 5-on-5 and 4-on-4 formats have been used. The most recent format used was at the 2010 Olympics (particularly in the gold medal game); there were 20 minutes of 4-on-4 followed by a shootout. In 2006, it was 20 minutes of 5-on-5. All men's games ended in regulation during the medal rounds, while the women's semifinal between the United States and Sweden required a shootout to determine the winner. At the World Cup of Hockey in 2004, the NHL's postseason tiebreaking procedure was used (multiple 20-minute periods of 5-on-5 until a goal is scored). The only overtime game in the playoff round was the semifinal between the Czech Republic and Canada. Canada won 4–3 with a goal 2 minutes and 16 seconds into the first overtime period.