The NHL GM’s are expected to discuss 3-vs-3 overtime at the next GM meeting
The American Hockey League might have stumbled across the perfect solution to cut down on overtime shootouts.
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A new regulation in place for the 2014-2015 season has changed the way sudden death overtime is played in the AHL. Rather than five minutes of four on four hockey, the league has extended the overtime period to seven minutes; the first four are played 4-vs-4 as usual, then the next three cut down to three players on the ice per team.
It seems to be working. Since implementing the new rule, the number of overtime periods that have had to resort to a shootout has been cut down from 65% to only 15% to start off the new season; while this could fluctuate, it’s clear that the regulation change has had a significant impact on how often games end in a shootout.
This is now something that the NHL is looking to implement, as well; according to NBC’s Pro Hockey Talk, the next GM meeting (held next week) will discuss bringing the 3-vs-3 to the major leagues.
This would do wonders for games ending without having to resort to a shootout, which many dislike. The overtime shootout, which awards the winning team two points and the losing team one, gives each team a best of 3 chance to outscore their opponent on breakaway shots. It’s a bit of a crapshoot — and some teams have suffered because of it. The Nashville Predators have absolutely dominated in the shootout, while the New Jersey Devils made a splash last season by losing all thirteen of their shootout games.
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