Overtime is a method of determining a winner in an ice hockey game when the score is tied after regulation. The main methods of determining a winner in a tied game are the overtime period (commonly referred to as overtime), the shootout, or a combination of both. If league rules dictate a finite time in which overtime may be played, with no penalty shoot-out to follow, the game's winning team may or may not be necessarily determined.

Overtime periods

Overtime periods are extra periods beyond the third regulation period during a game, where normal hockey rules apply. Although in the past, full-length overtime periods were played, overtimes today are golden goal (a form of sudden death), meaning that the game ends immediately when a player scores a goal.

North American overtime

From November 21, 1942, when overtime (a non-sudden death extra period of 10 minutes duration) was eliminated due to war time restrictions and continuing through the 1982–83 season, all NHL regular-season games tied after 60 minutes of play ended as ties. On June 23, 1983, the NHL introduced a regular-season sudden death overtime period of five minutes. If the five-minute overtime period ended with no scoring, the game ended as a tie. (The World Hockey Association had used a 10-minute, sudden death regular season overtime period during its seven-year existence.) In the first games to go to overtime, on October 5, 1983, the Minnesota North Stars and Los Angeles Kings skated to a 3–3 tie, and the Detroit Red Wings and Winnipeg Jets tied 6–6. The first regular-season game decided by overtime was on October 8, 1983, as the New York Islanders beat the Washington Capitals 8–7. In 1987–88 and since 1995, the American Hockey League has awarded teams one point in the standings for an overtime loss (OTL). In 1998, the AHL introduced a rule where teams will play the five-minute overtime period with four skaters and a goaltender, rather than at full strength (five skaters), except in two-man advantage situations. In a two-man advantage situation, the team with the advantage will play with five skaters against three skaters. The rule was popular and adopted by the NHL and ECHL the next season. Alex Ovechkin has the record for most NHL overtime goals with 25. In the Stanley Cup playoffs and in all tiebreaker games, overtime periods are played like regulation periods – teams are at full strength (five skaters, barring penalties), there is no shootout, and each overtime period is 20 minutes with full intermissions between overtime periods. The game ends when either team scores a goal. In many leagues (including the NHL for regular-season games since the 2005–06 season) and in international competitions, a failure to reach a decision in a single overtime may lead to a shootout. Some leagues may eschew overtime periods altogether and end games in shootout should teams be tied at the end of regulation. In the ECHL, the AHL, and the Southern Professional Hockey League, regular season overtime periods are played three on three for one five-minute period, with penalties resulting in the opponents skating one additional player on ice (up to two additional players) for each penalty. If the penalised player returns to the ice, the game becomes 4-on-4 or 5-on-5 until the next stoppage of play, when it becomes 3-on-3. Prior to the 2014–15 season, the AHL set the overtime period at seven minutes, but reverted to the now-standard five-minute period the following year. The idea of using 3-on-3 skaters for the entirety of a five-minute overtime period for a regular season game was adopted by the NHL on June 24, 2015, for use in the 2015–16 NHL season. The ECHL has changed the overtime to seven minutes for the 2019–20 season.

International overtime

In IIHF play, rules for overtime depend on the stage of the competition. New overtime procedures debuted at the 2019 IIHF World Championship that will be in effect for all IIHF championships, including from the 2022 Winter Olympics hereafter. All overtime periods will be 3-on-3 regardless of round robin or preliminary (five minutes with a three-round shootout), knockout rounds including third place games (ten minutes with a five-round shootout), or the championship (twenty minutes, no shootout). In the championship game only, if that overtime is scoreless, a full intermission will be conducted before the procedure repeats. The overtime ends on whoever scores next. In all cases, teams will change ends.

Shootout

International shootouts

In international competition, shootouts (or more formally, game-winning shots (GWS), and, in some European countries, bullets, or bullits ), are often used. Each coach selects three skaters from their team to take penalty shots one at a time against the opposing goaltender, with teams alternating shots. Each team gets one shot per round. The winner is the team with more goals after three rounds or the team that amasses an unreachable advantage before then (ex. a team gains a two-goal lead with only one round left). If the shootout is tied after three rounds, tie-breaker rounds are played one at a time (with each team taking one additional shot) until there is a winner. The IIHF first adopted the game-winning-shot procedure in 1992 when a new playoff procedure in the Winter Olympics and World Championships required a winner for each game. At that time, the shootout was five rounds and only used for knock-out games. In 2006, it was reduced to three rounds and used for all games, eliminating the possibility of tied games at IIHF events. Tie-breaker rounds are still used as needed, and the same or new players can take the tie-break shots, which is also done in reverse order. As of May 2016, all IIHF preliminary round games that are not decided by overtime, are decided by a three-round shootout. However, all playoff & bronze medal games of IIHF top level championships (especially the Olympics) are decided by five round shootouts. Since 2019, the gold-medal game uses multiple 20-minute overtime periods of 3-on-3, and applies to both genders.

North American shootouts

Most lower minor leagues (ECHL, Central, UHL) have featured a shootout where, at the end of regulation, a shootout similar to the international tournament format is used. However, in 2000, the ECHL adopted the AHL's four-on-four overtime before the shootout. For the 2004–05 AHL season, the AHL adopted a five-man shootout, which was first used in that league in 1986–87. The standard five-man shootout is used after four-on-four overtime for all minor leagues in North America. The AHL switched to the NHL formatted three-man shootout for the 2014–15 season. The Central Collegiate Hockey Association added the shootout as of the 2008–09 season. Following the lead of minor leagues, in the NHL's first post-lockout season of 2005–06, the league ends exhibition and regular season games still tied after a five-minute-length, three-skaters-per-side overtime period (as of the 2015–16 NHL season onwards) with a shootout. The NHL format is a three-round shootout with tiebreaker rounds as needed. All skaters (except goalies) on a team's roster must shoot before any player can shoot a second time. On December 16, 2014, the longest shootout in NHL history went to 20 rounds before Nick Bjugstad of the Florida Panthers scored to defeat the Washington Capitals; the previous record was 15 rounds. The shootout is not used in the playoffs for any major North American league. Instead, full 20-minute overtime periods are played until one team scores a goal. In the National Hockey League and American Hockey League All-Star Skills Competitions, the competition ends in a penalty shootout known as the Breakaway Relay.

Tactics

Tactics are very important during penalty shots and overtime shootouts for both the shooter and the goalie. Both shooters and goalies commonly consult their teammates and coaches for advice on the opposing player's style of play. Shooters often consider the goalie's strengths and weaknesses (such as a fast glove or stick save), preferred goaltending style (such as butterfly or stand-up) and method of challenging the shooter. Goaltenders often consider the shooter's shot preference, expected angle of attack, a patented move a shooter commonly uses and even handedness of the shooter. Most shooters attempt to out-deke the goalie in order to create a better scoring chance. Former Detroit Red Wings forward Pavel Datsyuk and New York Rangers forward Martin St. Louis are examples of players who commonly use this tactic. However, it is not uncommon for a shooter to simply shoot for an opening without deking. This is commonly referred to as sniping. This is most commonly performed when a goalie challenges a shooter by giving them an open hole (by keeping a glove, pad or stick out of position or being out of sound goaltending position altogether to tempt the shooter to aim for the given opening). Former NHL forwards Markus Näslund and Brett Hull are two players commonly referred to as snipers. Very rarely a shooter may take a slapshot or wrist shot from the point or top of the slot. This is almost exclusively performed when a shooter either has a high level of confidence in their shot or they attempt to catch the goalie by surprise. Retired player Brian Rolston, Detroit Red Wings winger Todd Bertuzzi, Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger, and Vancouver Canucks winger Daniel Sedin have all used this tactic with success.

List of notable overtime games

The longest overtime game in history was in the Norwegian GET-ligaen. The game ended after 157:14 of overtime in the 8th overtime period.

NHL

This is a list of all National Hockey League (NHL) playoff games that went into at least three overtimes (winning team is bold).

Notable NHL playoff overtime games

Swedish ice hockey

This is a list of the longest games in the highest Swedish leagues.

KHL

This is a list of Kontinental Hockey League games that went to at least triple overtime.

Belarusian ice hockey

The longest game in Belarusian extraleague is game five of the 2021 Quarter-finals on March 10–11, 2021. HC Neman Grodno beat the HK Gomel, 2–1, at Gomel Ice Palace of Sports on a goal by Krystian Dziubiński at 9:04 of sextuple overtime. Maxim Gorodetsky was the winning goaltender for the Neman, making 78 saves.

Olympics – men's gold-medal game

This is a list of men's gold-medal games from the Olympics that needed overtime.

Olympics – women's gold-medal game

This is a list of women's gold-medal games from the Olympics that needed overtime.

Czech ice hockey

DEL

March 22, 2008: Philip Gogulla of the Cologne Sharks ends the longest German hockey game and the third longest worldwide, scoring the ninth-overall goal in a 5:4 victory over the Mannheim Eagles. The goal comes 8:16 into the sixth overtime period for a total of 108:16 of overtime. It is the third quarter-final game (best of seven) in the Kölnarena in Cologne in front of an audience of 17,000. The game had begun at 5:30 pm and ends at 12:15 am.

Norwegian ice hockey

March 12, 2017: Joakim Jensen of the Storhamar Ishockey ends the longest hockey game in history, scoring with 2:46 left in octuple overtime for a total of 157:14 of overtime, and 217:14 of hockey played. It was Game 5 of the quarter-finals of the 2016–17 GET-ligaen playoffs against the Sparta Warriors in the CC Amfi. About 1,000 out of the 5,500 people that attended the game watched the entire game. The game started at 18:00 and ended at 2:32 the next morning.

PWHL

To date, the Professional Women's Hockey League, which began in the 2023–24 season has had one game that went more than two overtimes. Taylor Wenczkowski of PWHL Boston scored the overtime winner against PWHL Montreal at the 11:44 mark of the third overtime in their game 2 semifinal match-up on May 11, 2024. In total, there were 51 minutes and 44 seconds played in overtime in the game, which was played at Place Bell in Laval, Quebec.

Notable minor league, college and junior overtimes

AHL

The longest game in AHL history is game four of the 2018 Atlantic Division Final on May 9, 2018. The Lehigh Valley Phantoms beat the Charlotte Checkers, 2–1, at Bojangles Coliseum on a goal by Alex Krushelnyski at 6:48 of quintuple overtime. Alex Lyon was the winning goaltender for the Phantoms, making 94 saves.

Canadian Interuniversity Sport – men

The University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds needed 61:53 of overtime (quadruple overtime) to defeat the Acadia University Axemen 3–2 on February 27, 2011, in game two of a best-of-five AUS semi-final series at Fredericton, New Brunswick. Nick MacNeil scored the game-winner at 11:53 of the seventh period overall. York University Lions and Lakehead University Thunderwolves went to a fourth overtime period (50:13 minutes of overtime) on February 14, 2007, in Thunder Bay, Ontario, to decide a winner in OUA men's playoff hockey action. Lakehead won the game at the 13-second mark of the fourth overtime period.

Canadian Interuniversity Sport – women

Morgan McHaffie scored at 7:14 of sextuple overtime to lead the Queen's Golden Gaels to a 2–1 win over the host Guelph Gryphons in the first game of the best-of-three OUA women's hockey final, March 2, 2011. The game, which lasted 167 minutes and 14 seconds, including 107:14 of extra time, is the longest on record in CIS or NCAA hockey – women's or men's. Winning goaltender Mel Dodd-Moher made 66 saves, while Danielle Skoufranis made 44 saves in a losing cause. It is the longest game played sanctioned by Hockey Canada.

ECHL

• Championship Series game. ** Game 7

International Hockey League

On May 12, 2008, one of the longest games in IHL history, if not the longest, took place in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It was the seventh game of the Turner Cup Final between the hometown Fort Wayne Komets and Port Huron Icehawks. The game was tied 2–2 through regulation. The first two extra periods solved nothing, but 23 seconds into the third overtime period, at some point after midnight ET, Justin Hodgman scored the winning goal to give the Komets their fifth Turner Cup title. It was the club's first since 1993, and their sixth overall, with their last championship being the Colonial Cup in 2003. The Komets would win again the following year with an easy game five victory at home, which was the first time in franchise history they won back-to-back championships. They would follow up with a third consecutive Turner Cup in 2010, again clinching on home ice, securing a dynasty.

VHL

On April 25, 2018, in game 5 of the 2018 VHL finals, SKA-Neva defeated HC Dinamo Saint Petersburg 4–3 in a game that needed 103:36 of overtime to be settled. Svyatoslav Grebinshchikov scored the game-winning goal 3:36 of sextuple overtime.

NCAA

The longest game in NCAA hockey history was played at Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana, on March 6, 2015. UMass beat Notre Dame, 4–3, in the Hockey East first round with 8:18 left in quintuple overtime. Shane Walsh scored the winning goal just after 1:00 am local time. The previous longest was played on March 12, 2010. Quinnipiac University beat Union College, 3–2, in the ECAC Quarterfinals, as Greg Holt scored with 9:38 left in quintuple overtime. The 3rd longest game in NCAA hockey history (the longest game in NCAA playoff history) was played on March 27–28, 2021. The University of Minnesota Duluth beat the University of North Dakota 3–2. Luke Mylymok scored the game-winning goal with 17:47 left in quintuple overtime. The 4th longest game in NCAA hockey history was played on March 5, 2006. Yale University beat Union College, 3–2, in the ECAC Hockey League first-round playoff game after 81:35 of overtime. David Meckler scored the winning goal with Yale shorthanded. The longest game in NCAA Division III hockey history, and the fourth longest in NCAA history overall, began at 7:05 pm on February 27, 2010, and ended at 12:35 am of the following day. Gustavus Adolphus College beat Augsburg College, 6–5, to advance to the MIAC championship game after 78:38 of overtime. Eric Bigham scored the winning goal. A 2000 NCAA regional final in men's ice hockey between St. Lawrence University and Boston University ended with 63:53 of overtime. Manitoba native and minor hockey buddy of Craig McAulay, Robin Carruthers scored the game-winning goal after four periods of overtime play A March 30, 1991, game between Northern Michigan University and Boston University ended with Northern Michigan earning an 8–7 victory over Boston University. Unlikely hero Darryl Plandowski scores in the third overtime period and fifth hour of play to give the Wildcats the title. A March 8, 1997, game between Colorado College and the University of Wisconsin–Madison ended with Colorado College winning, 1–0, after 69:30 of overtime. A March 14, 2003, ECAC Quarterfinal game between Colgate University and Dartmouth ended, 4–3 for Colgate, after 61:05 in overtime. On March 26, 2006, the Wisconsin Badgers beat the Cornell Big Red 1–0 at 11:13 into the third overtime at the Midwest Regional Final in the NCAA Tournament at the Resch Center in Green Bay. It was the second-longest NCAA Tournament game in its history and the longest 1–0 game in tournament history. It is currently the ninth-longest game all-time in NCAA Division I history. A March 11, 2007, game between St. Cloud State University and University of Minnesota Duluth during the first round of the WCHA playoffs ended with SCSU winning, 3–2, after 51:33 of overtime. It is the eighth-longest NCAA Division I game in history. In the first round of the 2008 WCHA hockey tournament featuring the fourth-seeded Minnesota State University, Mankato Mavericks hosting the seventh-seeded University of Minnesota Golden Gophers, the Friday and Sunday games both went into double overtime, and the Saturday night game went into one overtime. The Gophers prevailed two games to one in the series, winning Saturday and Sunday. On March 3, 2012, in the first round of the 2012 ECAC Hockey hockey tournament featuring the seventh-seeded Clarkson Golden Knights men's ice hockey team hosting the tenth-seeded RPI Engineers men's ice hockey team, Clarkson beat RPI 4–3 at 13:48 in the third overtime period, after 113:48 of play. It is currently the seventh-longest game all-time in NCAA Division I history.

NCAA women

On March 10, 1996, New Hampshire defeated Providence, 3–2, in an ECAC Women's Championship game after 85:35 of overtime. (This is not an NCAA record, as the NCAA did not officially recognize women's hockey until the 2001 season; however, it stands as the longest women's college hockey game) On March 10, 2007, Wisconsin defeated Harvard, 1–0, in an NCAA women's quarterfinal game after 67:09 of overtime at the Kohl Center in Madison WI. Wisconsin went on to win the national championship. On March 10, 2012, Cornell University defeated Boston University, 8–7, in an NCAA women's quarterfinal game after 59:50 of overtime at Lynah Rink in Ithaca, New York, surpassing the men's game from the previous night as the longest hockey game to be played at the rink. On March 21, 2010, Minnesota–Duluth defeated Cornell 3–2 in the NCAA championship game, after 59:26 of overtime (119:26 total game time), the longest men's or women's hockey championship game in NCAA history.

Canadian Hockey League

QMJHL

2007 RBC Cup – Canadian Jr A championship

The semi-final game for the 2007 RBC Cup, saw the host Prince George Spruce Kings taking on the Camrose Kodiaks. The game ended up being the longest game in Royal Bank Cup history at 146 minutes and 1 second. The Spruce Kings broke a 2–2 tie just over six minutes into quintuple overtime to win 3–2 and clinch a berth in the RBC Cup Final against the Aurora Tigers. Jason Yuel of the Spruce Kings scored the winner while goaltender Jordan White stopped 91 of 93 shots for the victory.

OPJHL

On February 10, 2007, the Toronto Jr. Canadiens defeated the Pickering Panthers, 4–3, to take a 2–0 series lead in the first round of the OPJHL playoffs, after 104:32 of overtime. It is the second longest game played sanctioned by Hockey Canada.

GHJHL

February 1999, the St. Catharines Falcons defeated the Port Colborne Sailors 7–6 to take a 2–1 series lead in the semi-finals of the Golden Horseshoe Jr. B Hockey League playoffs. Peter Lacey scored 11 minutes into quintuple overtime, ending the game at 2:18 am. The game started at 7:30 pm. It is the longest junior hockey game sanctioned by Hockey Canada

High school

On February 20, 2020, in Black River Falls, Wisconsin, Black River Falls Co-op vs. Viroqua Co-op girls went a total of six overtimes - a combination of 8 and 12 minute overtimes - total elapsed playtime of 122 minutes, 51 seconds, a new US High School Record. Black River Falls won 2–1 in sextuple overtime. Viroqua goalie Abby Severson stopped 108 of 110 shots in the game. Marquette vs Orchard Lake St Marys went eight overtimes during the Michigan State Ice Hockey Division 1 Championship game before Tournament officials stopped the game in consideration of the health and welfare of the players on March 8, 2008. The 1–1 tie resulted in the two teams being declared co-champions. The game lasted 109 minutes. Ryan Morley Stockton of St. Mary's had a MHSAA-record 58 saves. In a 1996 FCIAC quarterfinal matchup in Darien, Connecticut, between archrivals Wilton and Ridgefield, Wilton's Bill Lenich scored after 104 minutes of hockey, in the 8th eight-minute overtime period. The longest game in American high school history was an Aurora High School–Solon High School game in which Aurora won in the eighth overtime period of the Ohio state playoffs. The winning goal was scored with 3:52 left in the 8th overtime (105th minute), setting an American record. Since 2015, most state tournaments allow up to 5 overtime periods (4-on-4 after first overtime), after which best-of-3-round shootouts and extra rounds if needed are conducted, to eliminate co-champions.