NOT JUST FUN AND GAMES
NHL 3-on-3 isn’t a hit with everyone
How teams deal with the switch from 4-on-4 in OT to one fewer skater per team could wind up having a real effect on the standings.
Consider this: A year ago, with 4-on-4 rules, 44 per cent of overtime games were decided by a goal before they got to a shootout, according to STATS, about the same percentage that it’s been in the 10 years since that format began in 2005-06.
But during this preseason, the first NHL test of 3-on-3 after it was tried in the AHL, 72 per cent of OT games ended before a shootout, STATS said. Nearly one quarter of all regular-season games over the past decade went to overtime.
The first 3-on-3 overtime of the regular season was a wild affair. On Thursday night in Florida, the Tampa Bay Lightning beat Philadelphia 3-2 on a breakaway from defenceman Jason Garrison that capped an OT period filled with end-to-end action and even a penalty shot.
“How to describe it?” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “Lunacy. It’s just constant (action).”
Tampa Bay outshot the Flyers 5-3 during overtime, and 32-25 for the game.
How teams approach 3-on-3 — will they try to be the first to score as opposed to trying to control the puck and preventing goals — might shift, too. Nashville Predators coach Peter Laviolette called 3-on-3 a “tough thing to practice.”
“The majority of the goals are usually some sort of a transition goal or somebody falls down,” Laviolette said.
As his goalie, Pekka Rinne, put it: “I’m sure every team is going to go through a little bit of a learning curve.”