Support growing in NHL for longer 3-on-3 OT, fewer shootouts
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. >> Troy Terry made his name in hockey with his shootout heroics for the U.S. in the 2017 world junior championship against Russia, much like T.J. Oshie did at the Olympics a few years earlier.
Still, the Anaheim Ducks All-Star wouldn’t mind seeing fewer of them decide NHL games.
A movement is growing to play more than just five minutes of 3-on-3 overtime during the regular season in the hope of cutting down on the number of shootouts. Implementing 3-on-3 already has significantly reduced how often games are decided by shootout.
Two-time NHL MVP and four-time scoring champion Connor McDavid spoke out in favor of longer overtime and it’s clear he’s not alone.
“The 3-on-3 overtime as a whole is great for this sport,” Terry said. “It’s fun for us. It feels more like hockey than going to the shootout.”
The NHL implemented the shootout in 2005-06 coming out of a lockout that had wiped out an entire season, getting rid of ties that had been part of the league for decades. There is no consideration of going away from continuous 5-on-5 overtime in the playoffs until a game-winning goal is scored.
The shootout was intended to jazz up regularseason games but by 2015 the NHL had what it considered a problem: 13% of its regular-season games, 160 in all, went to a shootout after five minutes of 4-on-4 play did not produce a deciding goal.
After some experimentation in the American Hockey League, the league approved 3-on-3 OT and that number plummeted to 8% last season.
It’s down to 6.5% so far this season — 51 of 803 games at the break, with the 3-on-3 All-Star tournament Saturday night another chance to show how effective it is — but that’s still too many for a lot of folks around the sport.
“Any time you have an opportunity to decide the outcome of the game in a team atmosphere, I think it’s more indicative of the fabric of the game,” Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “The shootout, I know it’s exciting and there’s an entertainment value there, but for me it’s deciding the outcome of a baseball game with a home run derby.”