Boston Bruins: 3 steps to fix the NHL’s overtime and standings format

To start, I want to be very clear, this piece has nothing to do with how the Boston Bruins play in overtime (OT) and the shootout (SO). In fact, the Bruins actually play decently when it comes to extra hockey. Through 46 games this season, the Black and Gold have gone past regulation 13 times (about 28% of the games) and have won seven of these games. Four of these wins have happened in a shootout and three of them were won in overtime.

Instead, this piece is in response to an article our friends over at Eyes on Isles recently published. This piece stated that 3-on-3 overtime has become boring. And, to be honest, I couldn’t agree more.

As stated in the piece by site expert Matt O’Leary, “The new strategy [for 3-on-3 overtime] is to play keep away, make the other team tired, and maybe catch them on a long shift or on a change.”

This is just the reality of the situation. Head coaches have adapted and decided that they’d rather sit around in their own end, forcing the opposition to forecheck and tire themselves out, then try to take advantage of a tired or changing team, than go out guns blazing trying to score.

However, while this is a great strategy, it can take a while to develop, especially if the opposition refuses to chase and tire themselves out. This has resulted in more shootouts over the last couple of seasons, which is what they NHL was trying to eliminate when they changed OT from 4-on-4 to 3-on-3, and a very boring five minutes.

Of course, this isn’t every game that goes to OT. Some games are very entertaining and wide open with chance after chance. However, it seems like the boring games are on the rise, and something has to be done to fix this before every game is like this.

3 Steps to fix the NHL’s overtime and standings format.
1. Eliminate Shootouts

When first adopted by the NHL, the shootout was widely accepted by fans and players as an exciting alternative to ties. After all, no one likes when a game ends in a tie.

However, over the years, fans, players, and coaches have been calling for the NHL to eliminate shootouts as they are more of a skills competition among the players rather than a good way to show which team is overall better than the other. Thus, making them a poor way to ultimately decide games.

If I’m being honest, I am one of those fans that absolutely despises shootouts. I don’t care if my team wins or loses, I just cannot stand shootouts as I think they’re boring and a terrible way to decide which team should win.

The NHL, to the dismay of B’s rookie goaltender Jeremy Swayman who oddly likes and enjoys shootouts, needs to eliminate the SO. Go back to ties.

However, the NHL should figure out a way to limit how many ties occur. At the time of writing, 60 out of the 158 games that have exceeded regulation so far this season have gone to a SO. That’s about 38% of these games going to a SO, which would be ties if shootouts were abolished.

With this in mind, my next step will hopefully fix this issue.

3 steps to fix the NHL’s overtime and standings format.
2. Extend Overtime

The NHL has now been using 3-on-3 overtime since the 2015-16 season. This change was made as 4-on-4 OT was resulting in too many shootouts.

From the 2005-06 season to the 2014-15 season, there were 2,789 games that went past regulation. Of these games, 1,583 of them ended in a shootout. That’s nearly 57% of the games that past regulation. Something clearly had to be changed.

Enter 3-on-3 OT.

During the 2015-16 pre-season, 3-on-3 OT was experimented with. The results were exactly what the NHL wanted — A high-paced, entertaining period of hockey.

In the 44 games that went to OT during that pre-season, just 11 of them went to a SO (25%). NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman stated that the average time to score a goal in these 44 3-on-3 overtime period was 2:49.

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Fast forward to 2021 and things are very different. 3-on-3 OT has taken a turn for the worst as it’s typically now a game of keep away with limited scoring chances.

As I mentioned earlier, the percent of OT games that have gone to a SO so far this season is at 38%, significantly higher than what it once was. So, maybe the problem wasn’t the number of players on the ice. Maybe the problem is the length of OT.

Now, I don’t know if the NHL should go back to 4-on-4 for OT, but I do know they should experiment with extending the period from five minutes to seven or 10 minutes.

This would give the teams more time to score and more of an opportunity to tire out their opposition.

Another idea is implementing a hybrid OT format. The period will be 10 minutes that will start at 4-on-4. However, if neither team scores within the first five minutes, play will go to 3-on-3. Of course, if play is going on after the five-minute mark, 3-on-3 rules won’t start until after the next stoppage.

While thinking of this, another thought popped into my head. Maybe it’s neither the length of OT nor the number of players, but the incentive. Which brings me to my next point.