There has been much debate about 3v3 overtime in the NHL. As NHLRumors.com has documented, over the last two seasons, there has been talk about adjusting or changing it. Some of the ideas have unintended consequences. The biggest idea from the discussions has been to extend the overtime period.
With the Four Nations Faceoff underway, a 10-minute overtime 3-on-3 format has been introduced. It was on display on night one of the tournament. Mitch Marner, a player who needed to step up for Canada, scored the winner. After the game was over, that was all anyone wanted to talk about.
Changing NHL Overtime Format Has Unintended Consequences
Players like Drew Doughty, Connor McDavid, Cale Makar, and Mark Stone all weighed in on the subject. They all thought it was fun to see in person.
“I had a great seat for it,” Stone said following the game. “That was pretty exciting you get, especially with the best players in the world going out there, watching Connor and Nate go out there together, watching them flying up and down the sheet there.
Stone thought guys like Makar, McDavid, and Nathan MacKinnon would benefit the most from it. However, MacKinnon, who was almost every other shift, thought 10 minutes was too much but thought 7 minutes was just perfect.
“We were actually just talking about it in the room. Maybe 7 ? I usually feel better than that normally,” said MacKinnon to RG Media.
So Rod Smith and TSN Hockey Analyst Frankie Corrado debated whether the NHL should extend 3v3 overtime to 10 minutes after Sweden and Canada went to overtime in the first game of the Four Nations Faceoff on the latest edition of Hot or Not.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
Fixes To Three-On-Three NHL Overtime Should Not Be This Hard
Rod Smith: “All right, Frankie, it’s time for another edition of Montana’s. Hot or Not, we’ll start with Nathan McKinnon, who said, No thanks to the idea of 10 minute overtime coming to the NHL, he should reconsider because it’s awesome. Hot or Not?”
Frankie Corrado: “Not. I like that. Nathan MacKinnon. Listen, this guy plays so much already, and chances are, if overtime gets extended, it’s just the same guys over and over, hopping over the boards. And it’s an 82-game season, and there are back-to-back games, so give these guys a little bit of a break. Ultimately, yes, it’s entertaining for the fans, but these are the guys that have to perform and recover and do it on a night-night basis. So I like the fact that Nathan MacKinnon has kind of said all right, it’s enough for five minutes when it comes to overtime.”
Smith: “Yeah, it’s a little different when you just sit on the couch and enjoy it, right?”
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The fans definitely thought it was great to see. But you could tell the top players who were out there every other shift were getting fatigued. Who would have thought MacKinnon would look off McDavid on a 2-on-1? But he did.
And that is the point: coaches would have to rotate players in a longer overtime session. In the five minutes, the top players are usually out there every other shift. They have two to three sets of guys they put out on the ice. That number will have to increase so the top players can get a little more rest.
With the general managers meeting right around the corner, the topic of 3v3 overtime could come up again.
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