NHL
“Sudden Death” isn’t just a hockey-themed action movie. It’s a term commonly associated with overtime in the Stanley Cup playoffs — and it makes the NHL’s postseason different from not only the league’s regular season, but also the postseasons of North America’s other major professional sports leagues.
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As in a regular-season game, an NHL playoff game tied after regulation extends to overtime, where a team can win by scoring the next goal. But this is where the similarities end.
A playoff game with no winner after the third period will pause for 15 minutes — an “intermission” during which teams return to their dressing rooms and the ice surface is cleaned by machines.
Upon returning, the teams will resume play at five-on-five for 20-minute periods, each followed by another 15-minute intermission, until a goal is scored. The team that scores is declared the winner, bringing a “sudden death” to the losing team.
Some other factoids about overtime in the Stanley Cup playoffs:
Game 4 of the 1919 Stanley Cup Final between the Seattle Metropolitans and Montreal Canadiens ended in a 0-0 tie after two overtime periods. Players from each team had reportedly collapsed from exhaustion at the end of the second overtime period, and the tie result was ruled as final.
Before Game 5, it was decided that future playoff games would be played until a winning goal was scored.
A playoff game has been extended beyond four overtime periods on only five occasions:
The Cup winner has been determined with an overtime goal 17 times. The most recent was Alec Martinez’s goal in double-overtime for the Los Angeles Kings in Game 5 of the 2014 Final. The first example was Bill Cook of the New York Rangers in the first overtime of Game 4 of the 1933 Cup Final.
There were 16 overtime games in the 2024 playoffs. Twelve were decided in the first overtime period, four in the second overtime.
(Photo: Joel Auerbach / Getty Images)
An award-winning sports journalist, Rob Rossi has reported on the Pittsburgh Penguins and National Hockey League since 2004. He has covered almost 2,000 NHL games, including over 150 in the playoffs and four Stanley Cup Final series. He also has covered two Super Bowls and multiple MLB All-Star Games. He sits on the executive board of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association, and chairs its Pittsburgh chapter. He joined The Athletic in October 2018, and co-founded its Mental Matters resource group. Follow Rob on Twitter @Real_RobRossi

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