Utah, Know the NHL’s Overtime Rules
Sports fans in the beehive state likely had a lot to process last night.
The Jazz held off the Mavericks in Dallas for another preseason victory, Thursday night football was ongoing, ending in favor of the 49er’s topping the Seahawks and the Utah Hockey Club played their first ever regular season game on the road out in the big apple.
For those trying to juggle multiple sports at once, you may have noticed the rapid pace in which the New York Islanders and the UHC were trading blows.
In what was a 3-3 game late into the 3rd period, New York’s Maxim Tsyplakov put the Islanders up 4-3 by squeezing a shot past Utah’s Sean Durzi and Connor Ingram.
With nearly 18 minutes expired in the 3rd, many fans of the newest team in the NHL may have found their hopes dashed for a 2-0 start.
That is, until Utah’s right winger, Josh Doan, flashed his speed by splitting two Islanders, receiving a pristine Alex Kerfoot pass and netted a backhand shot to tie it back up at 4 apiece within a grand total of 13 seconds from the Islanders previous goal scored.
It all moved so quickly and before fans could absorb what actually went down, overtime had descended.
Utah would win in the overtime period with a gorgeous Dylan Guenther snap shot goal with just over two minutes into OT as Utah worked the 3 V 1 down the ice.
Despite pure excitement for some of the newest hockey fans in the world, many probably never had a chance to fully understand what goes down in overtime in the hockey world.
As you can imagine in an 82 game season wherein the scoring is often evenly paced, overtime is quite frequent in the NHL making it a necessity for any new fans to understand.
For example, no team played less than 10 overtime games last season and the Montreal Canadiens, Boston Bruins and the New York Islanders led the NHL with 26 overtime appearances in 2023-2024.
Thus lets lay out how overtime goes down in the world of professional hockey, at least in the regular season.
The first thing to understand is the clock. Instead of another 20:00 back up on the scoreboard, overtime is a burst of 5:00.
To up the intensity, it is a “sudden-death” scenario, meaning the next goal scored will determine the winning team.
If that wasn't enough, each team has to remove 2 skaters from the ice making it a 3 V 3 showdown instead of the 5 V 5 witnessed during regulation.
There must be three skaters on ice at any given moment so if a penalty was to occur, instead of subtracting a player as one would do in regulation, a player is added creating a 4 V 3 scenario.
Yes it is possible a penalty is committed during the power play, in which the team who has committed consecutive penalties has to deal with a 5 V 3.
If the power play is killed, teams can send out reinforcements to even up the numbers on the ice until the next stoppage where it returns to 3 V 3.
These numbers do not include the goalie who of course, is present.
So no, your not crazy, there were less players in the overtime period.
If neither team scores in the allotted 5:00 minute time frame, the period ends and the game enters into a “shootout.”
Each team selects three representatives for a three round showdown in which a single solo shot attempt is made by one of the selected players gliding down the ice going uncontested against the goalie.
This alternates three rounds for the three players selected.
It’s man vs man, scorer VS goalie.
If all three skaters for each team have had their moment and the score remains locked then it goes into sudden-death shootouts where each side only gets one shot per round to take it all.
This means there is no carry over. If you make your shootout shot and the opponent misses it is officially over. No redemption, no 2nd chances.
Now come playoff time, take everything you just learned and throw it away.
In the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the overtime period is just exactly that, another period with the shiny new rule of “next goal wins.”
5 V 5 remains and works the same as it would in regulation, the clock sets back up for another 20:00 of jam packed action.
The first goal does end the game, but if it is no where to be found after the entirety of the first overtime period, a second one will ensue with another fresh 20:00 and so on until a winner is crowned.
In either format you may notice that there is no plausible way to tie.
The NHL did away with the concept of a tie in 2005, when the shootout idea was unfurled.
You win or you lose. No inbetweens on the ice.
Unlike football or basketball, simply making it to overtime alone can help even the eventual losing team.
NFL and NBA standings are record based and pretty straightforward.
NHL standings go off a point system, that yes, is tied to how good ones record is, but also awarding to those who have lost out on a couple of tight games.
Squads get two points in the standings for a win whether it’s in regulation or overtime.
Losing teams get no points for a loss in regulation, but are awarded one point for dropping a game in overtime or on shootouts.
Think of it as a generous offering for putting up a good fight and making the game as hard fought and competitive as it can be.
This only stands true however if a team does not pull their goalie in overtime for an extra attacker.
If you do that and win, that’s fine, two points awarded, a win is a win.
If you pull your goalie and lose on an empty-net goal, you are awarded zero points and may God have mercy on your soul.
To demonstrate how it works, punch the NHL standings into your internet browser and see how each team has three categories in the standings.
Wins-Losses-OT Losses.
For example, the New York Islanders record currently displays an 0-0-1 record. Zero wins, zero losses, one overtime loss.
Thus the Islanders have 1 point whereas the Utah Hockey Club at 2-0-0 has 4 points.
Hopefully this was a helpful little guide to not only the rules of overtime in the NHL, or the standings alone, but a way in which you can impress your friends next time you visit the Delta Center.