3-on-3 Overtime Could Be Coming to an NHL Arena Near You

The NHL’s general managers have proposed using 3-on-3 play during regular season overtime period, meaning the preview the Bruins and Lightning gave fans last week could be a taste of things to come. Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

By Jeff Pini

March 19, 2015

4 minutes to read

The days of shootouts determining a majority of NHL overtime games may be coming to an end in the not-so-distant future.

At their annual spring meetings in Boca Raton, Florida, the league’s general managers proposed using 3-on-3 play during regular season overtime periods instead of 4-on-4 play, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said on Tuesday.

Any rule changes require the approval of the NHL-NHLPA Competition Committee and the league’s Board of Governors before being instituted, but having already been recommended by the GMs is a strong sign this could soon become a reality. The NHL introduced 4-on-4 overtime play for the 1999-2000 season.

Entering play on March 19, 262 NHL games had been tied after regulation this season. Of those contests, 149 required the game to end in a shootout, meaning almost 57 percent of the time, teams earned an all-important second point by prevailing in what amounts to an all-star skills competition instead of the game being won on an actual hockey play.

In an effort to reduce the number of games decided in shootout, the American Hockey League altered its overtime rules this season. Overtime was extended from five minutes to seven, with the first three minutes being played as a 4-on-4. After the first whistle following three minutes, however, the sides switch to 3-on-3 for the remainder of the OT period, and only if the game is still tied after that does the shootout commence.

During the 2013-14 AHL season, only 35.3 percent of overtime games were decided without the use of a shootout. Through March 15 of this season, that percentage has skyrocketed to 76.3 percent, with almost half of the 171 overtime goals scored coming while teams were playing 3-on-3.

In advance of the NHL GM meetings, the Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning gave the hockey world a mini-preview of overtime 3-on-3 during their game on March 12, when Chris Kelly and Tampa Bay’s Alex Killorn were assessed matching minors 51 seconds into overtime.

For 1:20 of ice time – before Matt Bartkowski was called for a holding penalty – both sides used just three skaters. Coach Claude Julien sent out a trio of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, and Torey Krug as the Bruins’ first unit, while the threesome of Ryan Spooner, David Pastrnak, and Bartkowski also saw time during 3-on-3 play.

In the 80 seconds that ensued, both teams traded numerous chances, including the following scoring bid by Pastrnak, which immediately led to a transition chance for Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman.

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“I thought there was lots of room,’’ Bergeron told the media afterwards when asked about playing 3-on-3. “We went back to the 4-on-3, but if we would have stayed [3-on-3] something can happen because there’s so much room and there’s lots of skills on the ice. Yeah I’d be for it.’’

Several of Bergeron’s teammates seemed to been keen on the idea as well.

“I was a little nervous out there actually,’’ Marchand said. “There was so much room you almost don’t know what to do with it. It was fun for sure and I think maybe we’ll see that next year or whatnot. It was a good experience.

“I’d rather do the 3-on-3 than have a shootout. I don’t know if it’s in place of that or not, but I think it would allow for more goals and more opportunities.’’

“It was exciting,’’ Dougie Hamilton said. “I think obviously a little tough when it goes to four on three for them, but there’s a lot of ice out there and I think we had some pretty skilled players on the ice obviously, so we had some nice plays and some good saves.’’

Despite winning the shootout in that game – the Bruins’ first such win since Nov. 21 – those who have criticized the shootout in the past didn’t change their minds, including Julien and goaltender Tuukka Rask.

“Personally I’m more of a team-oriented coach I guess, which I always believe that this is a team sport and should be decided by a team,’’ Julien said in his pregame press conference. “I never, never have been [in favor of shootouts] and I’m just being honest about it. I know it’s a great show and I know that we’re here for our fans. If the fans like it that much and they keep it in then I have no issues, I’ll move along with it. But if you ask me my personal opinion, I’d like to see it decided in a way that its more than just one player against a goaltender. Whether its four-on-four or three-on-three it’s still a group. I think that’s the way games should be decided.’’

Rask was a bit more frank about his thoughts on shootouts.

“Never been a fan of them, and never will be. That’s about it,’’ the Bruins netminder said.

There are two proposals reportedly on the table for overtime: one mirroring the AHL’s current system, and one that simply has teams go 3-on-3 for the entirety of the five minute OT period. Either way, for those hoping the majority of extra periods ending in a shootout goes the way of the dinosaurs; it may only be a matter of time.