Lightning coach says 3-on-3 overtime is ‘lunacy’
ARLINGTON, Va. — Count Washington Capitals defenceman Matt Niskanen among those around the NHL taking a wait-and-see approach when it comes to the league’s new 3-on-3 overtime.
A few things do seem clear about the set-up: It will make goalies’ stats uglier, result in fewer shootouts and force coaches to decide whether to focus on defence or an all-out attacking style.
“I wasn’t really sure about it at first,” said Niskanen, whose team hosts the New Jersey Devils in a season-opener Saturday. “Now I think it’s probably going to do what it was designed to do: Teams are going to get ‘Grade A’ chances, and if that’s what people want to see, then let’s do it. Fans are going to love it and the forwards are going to love it. Goalies and ‘D’? Maybe not as much.”
How teams deal with the switch from 4-on-4 in overtime 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 it’s been in the 10 years since that format began in 2005-06.
But during this pre-season, the first NHL test of 3-on-3 after it was tried in the AHL, 72 per cent of overtime 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.”