The Edmonton Oilers took advantage of the NHL’s overtime rules to defeat the New York Islanders on Tuesday night.
The NHL is one of the few sports that modify rules for overtime play. Other major sports rarely change rules when transitioning from regulation to extra time. For instance, soccer maintains the same rules. Basketball and football don’t modify rules when playing in overtime.
As for baseball, MLB has experimented with a “ghost runner” to speed up games when heading into extra innings.
But the NHL drastically changes rules from regulation to overtime as a means of creating more excitement for fans. Allow me to briefly explain why.
The NHL implemented its current overtime rules in 2015. Before then, overtime would consist of 10 minutes 5-on-5. The league shortened overtime to five minutes while keeping five skaters aside. This setup led to boring games that often ended in ties. Teams were content with skating away with a point, reducing the overall fan excitement level.
So, the league decided to introduce 3-on-3 overtime periods to amp up the excitement, while encouraging teams to play for the extra point. As such, overtime games are three-point games, meaning the winner takes two points while the loser gets one.
The experiment has largely worked, generating fun and enthusiasm for five minutes of 3-on-3 action. As we saw on Tuesday night, teams like the Edmonton Oilers can greatly benefit from overtime games.
How the NHL’s overtime rules helped the Oilers win on Tuesday night
The Edmonton Oilers led the New York Islanders 3-1 midway through the third period on Tuesday night. The Isles clawed their way back to tie the game, sending it to overtime.
But it was in overtime that the Oilers outmatched the Islanders. Per overtime rules, the teams play with three skaters aside instead of five, plus the goaltender.
Generally speaking, teams place two forwards and one defenceman. Nevertheless, teams can utilise any combination they wish. For instance, teams could ice three forwards (which is often done) or three defencemen (which is never done).
But for most teams, 3-on-3 overtime allows them to deploy their two best forwards. That’s exactly what the Oilers did. As the Oilers had the Islanders pinned down in their own zone for over a minute, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl came over the boards to take on an exhausted Islanders group.
Sure enough, McDavid and Draisaitl worked their magic, with Draisaitl icing the game just under two minutes into overtime.
Indeed, overtime can be fun during the regular season. However, it’s worth pointing out that regular-season overtime rules do not apply in the playoffs. During the postseason, overtime periods are played exactly like regulation periods.
That is why overtime games that go into double or triple overtime can get quite extensive. But that’s a conversation better suited for when the Oilers embark upon the postseason this spring.