Frozen Four overtime rules explained: How is it different from NHL?

The NCAA Frozen Four field is set between defending champions Denver, Western Michigan, Penn State and Boston University. The national semifinals will take place at Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri on April 10 where those four squads will battle for a shot at the national championship game on April 12.

The Nittany Lions will be participating for the very first time in program history. They earned a coveted spot in the semifinals after knocking out the UConn Huskies 3-2 in overtime at the regional final in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Some college hockey fans may have wondered why all 10 skaters were on the ice and why it took so long to determine a winner compared the the regular season. The answer is quite simple.

NCAA Hockey Tournament overtime rules mirror NHL playoff rules

According to the NCAA rulebook, the format of overtime is free to differ between conferences. However, once the national postseason field is set, then a uniform set of regulations must be followed. Those rules are as such:

• If a game is tied after regulation, then teams will play another full 20-minute period of overtime at 5-on-5
• The overtime period is sudden-death style, meaning the first team to score wins the game
• If no team has scored in the first overtime period, the game will continue into a second overtime, and then a third, and so on until a team scores to win

NHL fans are very familiar with that set of overtime rules as they practically mirror those followed by the professionals during the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Multiple Frozen Four games have needed to go to overtime to determine a winner, with the most recent of which being the 2024 semifinal game. The Denver Pioneers defeated the Boston University Terriers to advance to their third national championship game in three seasons.