Hockey · Formats
Hockey overtime rules
In the NHL regular season, a game tied after 60 minutes goes to 5 minutes, 3-on-3, sudden death, then a shootout if nobody scores; the winner gets 2 standings points and the loser 1. The playoffs have no shootout: overtime is played in 20-minute periods, 5-on-5, sudden death until someone scores.
Hockey overtime rules by league
| League | Overtime | If still tied |
|---|---|---|
| NHL regular season | 5 minutes, 3-on-3, sudden death | Shootout: 3 shooters a side, then sudden-death rounds |
| NHL playoffs | 20-minute periods, 5-on-5, sudden death | Another 20-minute period, until a goal |
| NCAA regular season (2026-27) | 5 minutes, 3-on-3 | A shootout if the conference uses one |
| NCAA tournament | 20-minute periods, 5-on-5, sudden death | Another 20-minute period, until a goal |
| IIHF World Championship, preliminary round | 5 minutes, 3-on-3, sudden death | Shootout: 5 shooters a side, then sudden death |
| IIHF quarter-finals, semi-finals, bronze game | 10 minutes, 3-on-3, sudden death | Shootout |
| IIHF gold medal game | 20-minute periods, 3-on-3, sudden death | Another 20-minute period, until a goal |
| US high school | Set by each state association | Set by each state association |
| USA Hockey youth and rec | Set by the league or tournament | A shootout, or the tie stands, as the league decides |
How does overtime work in the NHL regular season?
A game tied after 60 minutes goes to 5 minutes, 3-on-3, sudden death: each team plays three skaters and a goaltender. The first goal wins the game and counts like any other goal. If overtime ends scoreless, the game goes to a shootout.
How does a shootout work in hockey?
A shootout is a series of one-on-one attempts: each shooter skates in alone against the other team's goaltender, and the teams take turns. In the NHL each team takes 3 shots, and if it is still level, one shooter each in sudden-death rounds. No player shoots twice until every eligible skater has shot. IIHF events use five shooters a side before sudden death.
The shootout does not add every goal to the score. The shootout winner is credited with 1 goal, and shootout goals do not count in any player's goal total. Here is an NHL game settled that way:
| When | Team | Scoring play | Points | Score | What happened |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st 8:41 | Hawks | Goal | +1 | 1–0 | |
| 2nd 2:16 | Wolves | Power-play goal | +1 | 1–1 | |
| 2nd 17:05 | Wolves | Goal | +1 | 1–2 | Wolves lead 2-1 |
| 3rd 18:58 | Hawks | Goal with the goaltender pulled | +1 | 2–2 | Tied 2-2 after 60 minutes, so both teams are now sure of at least 1 standings point |
| Shootout | Hawks | Shootout win, credited as 1 goal | +1 | 3–2 | Overtime ended 2-2. The Hawks won the shootout 2-1, so the final score reads 3-2 |
The shootout's own goals are not added one by one: the winner gets 1 goal in the final score, and no player gets a goal in their stats for it.
And the shootout itself, round by round:
| Round | Hawks | Wolves | Shootout |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Goal | Saved | 1-0 |
| 2 | Saved | Goal | 1-1 |
| 3 | Saved | Saved | 1-1, so sudden death |
| 4 | Goal | Saved | 2-1, Hawks win |
Who gets standings points after overtime?
Both teams, in the NHL. The league gives 2 for a win, 1 for an overtime or shootout loss, 0 for a regulation loss, so a game that goes past 60 minutes hands out 3 points in all while a regulation game hands out 2. In the shootout game above, the Hawks get 2 points and the Wolves 1. The overtime-loss point has been in place since 1999-2000.
IIHF tournaments split the points differently: 3 for a regulation win, 2 for an overtime or shootout win, 1 for an overtime or shootout loss, 0 for a regulation loss.
| Result | NHL | IIHF |
|---|---|---|
| Win in regulation | 2 | 3 |
| Win in overtime or a shootout | 2 | 2 |
| Loss in overtime or a shootout | 1 | 1 |
| Loss in regulation | 0 | 0 |
How does playoff overtime work?
There is no shootout in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Overtime is played in 20-minute periods, 5-on-5, sudden death: full periods with full teams, and the first goal ends the game however long it takes. The NCAA tournament works the same way, with 20-minute 5-on-5 sudden-death periods and no shootout.
How does overtime work in college hockey?
NCAA regular-season games tied after 60 minutes play 5 minutes of 3-on-3 overtime, and a goal in it is a win for one team and a loss for the other. What follows a scoreless overtime has changed twice lately:
- 2024-25 and 2025-26: a shootout was required after overtime, even in nonconference games, though shootout results were not used in NCAA tournament selection.
- From 2026-27: the shootout is no longer required. Each conference decides whether to use one, and in a nonconference game the home team's conference policy applies.
How does overtime work at the World Championship?
IIHF events set overtime by round. At the 2026 World Championship, a tied preliminary-round game played 5 minutes of 3-on-3 sudden death, then a shootout of five shooters a side (the IIHF has also called it game-winning shots), with sudden-death rounds after that. As in the NHL, only the deciding shootout goal is added to the score.
Knockout games play longer. Quarter-finals, semi-finals and the bronze medal game had 10 minutes of 3-on-3, then a shootout. The gold medal game had no shootout: 20-minute periods of 3-on-3 until someone scored.
What are the overtime rules in youth and rec hockey?
They are local. USA Hockey's Rule 638 lets each affiliate, league or tournament set its own way of deciding a winner: how long overtime is, how many periods, and how a shootout runs. Overtime is sudden victory, and a team never plays it with fewer than three skaters and a goaltender. A shootout can follow overtime or replace it, and in a league game the tie can simply stand if the league's rules say so. US high school overtime is set by each state association, so check your league or tournament rules before the game. Youth period lengths are in how long a youth hockey game is.
How the app handles it
The hockey score tracker has no overtime clock and no shootout. With Allow draw on (the default), a level score after the 3rd period finishes as a draw. Turn Allow draw off and a tie shows an Extra period button instead, which you can repeat while the score stays level; you can still finish a tied game with End match, and it is saved as a draw.
An overtime goal does not end the game by itself: tap End match after it. The app does not track 3-on-3 or 4-on-4 play or a 5-minute overtime, does not add the NHL's shootout goal, and does not work out standings points. A game won in an extra period is saved as an ordinary win, not as an overtime loss for the other team.
Questions
When did the NHL switch to 3-on-3 overtime?
In 2015-16. It replaced 5 minutes of 4-on-4 overtime, which the NHL played from 1999-2000 to 2014-15.
Do shootout losses count as overtime losses in the NHL standings?
Yes. The overtime-loss column in NHL standings (OT or OTL) counts every game lost after regulation, in overtime or in a shootout, and each is worth 1 point. A shootout win counts as a win worth 2, the same as any other win.
Do overtime goals count in a player's stats?
Yes. An overtime goal is a normal goal: it counts in the final score and in the scorer's goal total, with assists credited as usual. Shootout goals are the exception, adding at most 1 to the team's score and nothing to any player's goals.
How many overtimes can a hockey game have?
In the NHL regular season, one 5-minute overtime, then a shootout. In the playoffs there is no limit: teams keep playing 20-minute periods until someone scores.
Last reviewed September 25, 2026
More hockey guides
All hockey rules, guides and tools
Related
Keep score with one tap.
Sport Score Tracker keeps hockey score on iPhone and Apple Watch, so you can play instead of counting. Offline, no ads, no account.