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Overtime (ice hockey)

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Overtime, in ice hockey, is a method of determining the winner and loser of ice hockey matches should a game be tied after regulation. Two main methods include the overtime period (commonly referred to as overtime), and the shootout.

Overtime periods

Overtime periods are extra periods beyond the third regulation period during a game, where normal hockey rules apply. Although in the past, full-length overtime periods were played, overtimes today are sudden death, meaning that the game ends immediately when a player scores a goal.

For the 1983-84 season, the NHL introduced a regular season overtime period of five minutes, compared to the twenty minutes of regulation periods. If the five minute overtime period ended with no scoring, the game was a tie.

In 1998, the American Hockey League introduced a rule where teams will play the five minute overtime period with four skaters and a goaltender, rather than at full strength (five skaters), except in two-man advantage situations. In a two-man advantage situation, the team with the advantage will play with five players. The rule was popular and adopted by the NHL and ECHL the next season.

Should the overtime period end with neither side scoring, the teams then take part in a "shootout", which goes to sudden death if tied after the third or fifth round, depending on the league.

Mats Sundin holds the record for most regular season overtime goals with 15.

In the Stanley Cup playoffs, overtime periods are identical to regulation periods, except that teams continue to play overtime periods until a goal is scored, as a winner and a loser must be determined. This can result in games having multiple overtime periods - a game between San Jose and Edmonton in the 2005-2006 playoffs had three overtime periods before Edmonton scored. Joe Sakic has the record for most career playoff overtime goals with seven. Interestingly, three of the game's legendary players, Mark Messier (109 playoff games), Mario Lemieux (77 games), and Gordie Howe (68 games) never scored a playoff overtime goal.

In many leagues (including the NHL since the 2005-06 season) and in international competitions, a failure to reach a decision in a single overtime may lead to a shoot out. Some leagues may eschew overtime periods altogether and end games in shoot out should teams be tied at the end of regulation. In the NHL, overtime periods are played four on four.

Shootout

International shootouts

In international competition, shootouts (or more formally, the penalty shootout), are often used. Each coach selects five skaters from their team to take penalty shots one at a time against the opposing goaltender, with teams alternating shots. After the ten players have all taken their shots, the team with the most goals is declared the winner. If the shoot out is still tied after five skaters from each team have shot, the shootout continues one skater at a time until one team has won the advantage (assuring that each team has taken an equal number of shots). The shootout may end earlier, if one team has scored more goals then the opposing team could score with its remaining shooters. This happened in the 2006 Winter Olympics, in Turin, Italy. Sweden won an upset victory over the United States (women's team) after only eight skaters. Sweden led 2 goals to none, after their fourth shot, rendering the remaining two shots unnecessary.

North American shootout

Most lower minor leagues (ECHL, Central, UHL) have featured a shootout where, at the end of regulation, a shootout similar to the international tournament format is used.

However, in 2000, the ECHL adopted the AHL's four-on-four overtime before the shootout.

For the 2004-05 AHL season, the AHL followed the ECHL's lead and adopted a five-player shootout. The standard five-man shootout is used after four-on-four overtime for all minor leagues in North America.

Following the lead of minor leagues, as of the 2005-06 season, the NHL ends exhibition and regular season games tied after the five minute overtime period by a shootout. Three skaters per team take shots on the opposing goalies, as opposed to the five in international and minor-league competition. The team with the most goals during their three shots is declared the winner. However, if the same number of goals are scored by both teams during the shootout, a sudden death shootout is begun, as in international competition. The teams alternate taking penalty shots, until one team scores and the other does not, thus producing a winner. All players (except goalies) on a team's roster must shoot before any player can shoot twice.

The shootout is not used in the playoffs for any North American minor league. Instead, 20 minute overtime periods are used until a single goal is scored.

In the National Hockey League All-Star Skills Competition, the competition ends in a penalty shootout known as the Breakaway Relay.

The overtime shootout was ranked No. 1 overall in the book "Glow Pucks & 10-Cent Beer: The 101 Worst Ideas in Sports History" by author Greg Wyshynski (Taylor Trade 2006).

Strategy

Strategy is considered to be very important during penalty shots and overtime shootouts for both the shooter and the goalie. Both shooters and goalies commonly consult their teammates and coaches for advice on the opposing player's style of play. Shooters often consider the goalie's strengths and weaknesses (such as a fast glove or stick save), preferred goaltending style (such as butterfly or stand-up) and method of challenging the shooter. Goaltenders often consider the shooter's shot preference, expected angle of attack, a patented move a shooter commonly uses and even handedness of the shooter.

Most shooters attempt to out-deke the goalie in order to create a better scoring chance. Minnesota Wild forward Mikko Koivu and Tampa Bay Lightning forward Martin St. Louis are examples of players who commonly use this strategy. However, it is not uncommon for a shooter to simply shoot for an opening without deking. This is commonly referred to as sniping. This is most commonly performed when a goalie challenges a shooter by giving them an open hole (by keeping a glove, pad or stick out of position or being out of sound goaltending position all-together to tempt the shooter to aim for the given opening). Vancouver Canuck forward Markus Naslund and former NHL forward Brett Hull are commonly referred to as snipers. Roberto Luongo and Dominik Hasek are well-known for their ability to challenge shooters and make spectacular saves. Very rarely a shooter may take a slapshot or wrist shot from the point or top of the slot. This is almost exclusively performed when a shooter either has a high level of confidence in their shot or they attempt to catch the goalie by surprise. Minnesota Wild forward Brian Rolston and Anaheim Mighty Ducks defenseman Chris Pronger have both used this strategy with success. In fact, Pronger succeeded in using this strategy in the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals on a penalty shot against Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Cam Ward.

Selected playoff overtime contests

  • March 24, 1936 - Detroit's Mud Bruneteau ends the longest Stanley Cup playoff game ever, scoring the game's only goal in a 1-0 victory over the Montreal Maroons. The goal came 16:30 into the sixth overtime period for a total of 116:30 of overtime. The game was a mere 3:30 short of the equivalent of playing three games back-to-back-to-back.
  • April 23, 1964 - Bobby Baun of the Toronto Maple Leafs nets a game winner against Detroit 1:43 into overtime in Game 6 of the Finals. The goal is notable because Baun had broken his ankle earlier in the game. It was frozen and taped, and Baun returned to the ice to score the winning goal.
  • May 12, 1986 - Doug Wickenheiser's overtime goal gives the St. Louis Blues a 6-5 win over the Calgary Flames in Game 6 of the Campbell Conference Finals. The goal, known as the "Monday Night Miracle", capped a 5-1 comeback, made all the more impressive that all four comeback goals were scored in the last ten minutes of the third period.
  • May 15, 1990 - After hardly playing in overtime, Petr Klima came off the bench late in triple overtime and scored almost immediately to end the longest overtime in NHL Finals history. The goal gave the Edmonton Oilers a 3-2 victory over the Boston Bruins in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals, setting the stage for the Oilers' fifth cup in seven years.
  • April 30, 1994 - Pavel Bure scores 2:20 into the second overtime of the seventh game of the opening round of Vancouver's playoff series with Calgary. The win gave the Vancouver Canucks three consecutive overtime wins over the favored Calgary Flames, who squandered a 3-1 series lead.
  • May 27, 1994 - Stephane Matteau ends the Eastern Conference Finals with a wrap-around goal on New Jersey's rookie goaltender Martin Brodeur. It was Matteau's second multiple overtime goal of the series and propelled the New York Rangers to their first Finals appearance in fifteen years.

Longest NHL overtime games

This is a list of the longest National Hockey League (NHL) overtime games.

Overtime Length
(min:sec)
Winning Team Score Losing Team Date Scorer
1. 116:30 Detroit Red Wings 1 - 0 Montreal Maroons March 24, 1936 Mud Bruneteau
2. 104:46 Toronto Maple Leafs 1 - 0 Boston Bruins April 3, 1933 Ken Doraty
3. 92:01 Philadelphia Flyers 2 - 1 Pittsburgh Penguins May 4, 2000 Keith Primeau
4. 80:48 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 4 - 3 Dallas Stars April 24, 2003 Petr Sykora
5. 79:15 Pittsburgh Penguins 3 - 2 Washington Capitals April 24, 1996 Petr Nedved
6. 78:06 Vancouver Canucks 5 - 4 Dallas Stars April 11, 2007 Henrik Sedin
7. 70:18 Toronto Maple Leafs 3 - 2 Detroit Red Wings March 23, 1943 Jack McLean
8. 68:52 Montreal Canadiens 2 - 1 New York Rangers March 28, 1930 Gus Rivers
9. 68:47 New York Islanders 3 - 2 Washington Capitals April 18, 1987 Pat LaFontaine
10. 65:43 Buffalo Sabres 1 - 0 New Jersey Devils April 27, 1994 Dave Hannan
11. 61:09 Montreal Canadiens 3 - 2 Detroit Red Wings March 27, 1951 Maurice Richard
12. 60:40 New York Americans 3 - 2 New York Rangers March 27, 1938 Lorne Carr
13. 59:32 New York Rangers 4 - 3 Montreal Canadiens March 26, 1932 Fred Cook
14. 59:25 Boston Bruins 2 - 1 New York Rangers March 21, 1939 Mel Hill
15. 57:34 Dallas Stars 3 - 2 Edmonton Oilers April 27, 1999 Joe Nieuwendyk
16. 55:13 Edmonton Oilers 3 - 2 Boston Bruins May 15, 1990 Petr Klima*
17. 54:51 Dallas Stars 2 - 1 Buffalo Sabres June 19, 1999 Brett Hull**
18. 54:47 Detroit Red Wings 3 - 2 Carolina Hurricanes June 8, 2002 Igor Larionov*
19. 53:54 Philadelphia Flyers 3 - 2 Toronto Maple Leafs April 16, 2003 Mark Recchi
20. 53:50 Chicago Black Hawks 3 - 2 Montreal Canadiens April 9, 1931 Cy Wentworth*
*Stanley Cup Finals game
**Stanley Cup winning goal

Notable Minor League, College and Junior Overtimes

ECHL

A May 5, 2000 game between the Louisiana IceGators and Greenville (SC) Grrrowl lasted 61:24 of overtime, with the Grrrowl winning, 3-2.

AHL

Five AHL games have run four overtimes.

1. May 30, 2003 ---Houston 1 at Hamilton 2 ----------74:56 2. Apr. 10, 1982 ---Rochester 2 at New Haven 3 ---74:08 3. Apr. 04, 1938 ---Syracuse 3 at Cleveland 2 ------62:42 4. Apr. 14, 1953 ---Cleveland 2 at Pittsburgh 3 ------61:46 5. Apr. 11, 1985 ---Nova Scotia 4 at Maine 3 --------60:17

NCAA Men

A 2000 NCAA regional final in men's ice hockey between St. Lawrence University and Boston University ended with 63:53 of overtime.

On March 5, 2006, Yale University defeated Union College, 3-2, in the ECAC Hockey League first-round playoff game after 81:35 of overtime. It is the longest game in NCAA hockey history. David Meckler scored the winning goal with Yale shorthanded.[1]

Union College also played in the longest game in small college hockey history. On March 16, 1984, Union defeated the Rochester Institute of Technology 5-4 after 33:26 of overtime (college OT periods at that time were 10 minutes each). [2]Gill Egan scored the winning goal for Union, which lost the next night to Babson College in the National Chapionship game.

A March 8, 1997 game between Colorado College and the University of Wisconsin-Madison ended with Colorado College winning, 1-0, after 69:30.

A March 14, 2003 ECAC Quarterfinal game between Colgate University and Dartmouth ended, 4-3 for Colgate, after 61:05 in overtime.

In March, 2006, the Wisconsin Badgers beat the Cornell Big Red 1-0 at 11:13 into the third overtime at the Midwest Regional Final in the NCAA Tournament at the Resch Center in Green Bay. It was the second-longest NCAA Tournament game in its history and the longest 1-0 game in tournament history. It is currently the sixth-longest game all-time in NCAA Division I history.


A March 11, 2007 game between St. Cloud State University and University of Minnesota-Duluth during the first round of the WCHA playoffs ended with SCSU winning, 3-2, after 51:33 of overtime. It is the fifth-longest NCAA Division I game in history.

CIS - OUA Men

York Lions and Lakehead Thunderwolves went to a fourth overtime (50:47 minutes of Overtime) on Februray 15, 2007 in Thunder Bay, Ontario. to decide a winner in OUA men’s playoff hockey action. Lakehead won the game at the 13-second mark of the fourth overtime period when Michael Wehrstedt beat Lions goaltender Kevin Druce with the winner in a 3-2 marathon. Both goaltenders shone for their teams, as Druce made a remarkable 82 saves, while Chris Whitley made 54 for Lakehead.

Shots: Per 1: Lakehead 11 York 9 Per. 2: Lakehead 17 York 12 Per 3: Lakehead 21 York 9 OT1 (10 Minute): York: 6 Lakehead 2 OT 2 (20 Minute): York 14 Lakehead 13 OT3 (20 Minute): Lakehead 22 York 6 OT4 Lakehead 1 York 0 Total: Lakehead 87 York 56 [source:http://www.universitysport.ca/e/m_icehockey/story_detail.cfm?id=8375]

NCAA Women

On March 10, 1996, New Hampshire defeated Providence, 3-2, in an ECAC Women's Championship game after 85:35 of overtime.

http://www.uscho.com/ncaad1/?data=longest_games

OPJHL

On February 10, 2007, the Toronto Jr. Canadiens defeated the Pickering Panthers, 4-3, to take a 2-0 series lead in the first round of the OPJHL playoffs, after 94:32 of overtime.

See also

References

  • The National Hockey League Official Guide and Record Book
  • Diamond, Dan. (1992) The Official National Hockey League Stanley Cup Centennial Book