NHL teams to get taste of 3-on-3 OT in pre-season
Each club will experience new format, regardless of score
Get ready to see plenty of three-on-three hockey during the NHL pre-season.
Before the league goes to five minutes of three-on-three overtime when it counts, 45 exhibition games will feature the experiment so that every team gets a chance to play it at least three times regardless of the score.
The Florida Panthers and Nashville Predators will get things underway Sunday night in the second game of their split-squad doubleheader. No matter the score, the teams will begin a five-minute three-on-three overtime.
"That was a response to club inquiries and requests over the summer because I would say most coaches don't spend a lot of practice time practising three-on-three," deputy commissioner Bill Daly said Wednesday from New York. "So they want to kind of get a sense of how it operates, probably get some familiarity and comfort level with it before the regular season starts and they're deciding games with it."
The league and NHL Players' Association agreed to adopt the policy for the pre-season, Daly said.
In the pre-season, the games designated for three-on-three overtime that aren't tied won't have to go to a shootout. For record-keeping purposes, the team winning at the end of regulation will be given the victory.