A regular-season tie gets five minutes of 3-on-3, then a shootout.

The scope is the NHL, not all ice hockey

This page applies National Hockey League Official Rules 2025–2026, principally Rule 84 (Overtime), Rule 24.2 (Penalty Shot procedure) and Rule 37.3(j) (video review of penalty-shot and shootout attempts). It covers NHL regular-season games and the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The NHL's official Video Rulebook still linked the 2025–26 book as its current downloadable edition when this page was checked on 27 August 2026. A 2026–27 edition had not yet been posted there, so readers should check the linked rulebook once the new season's edition appears. IIHF tournaments, NCAA hockey, USA Hockey, minor professional leagues and exhibition events can use different overtime lengths, standings systems and shootout procedures.

The full path from a tie to a winner

1. If the score is tied after three 20-minute regulation periods, NHL Rule 84.1 awards each club one standings point.
2. The teams change ends and play no more than five minutes of sudden-death overtime, normally with three skaters and one goaltender each.
3. The first legal overtime goal ends the game and gives its club the additional standings point.
4. If five minutes expire without a goal, Rule 84.4 sends the game to a shootout.
5. The shootout winner receives the additional point and the game is recorded with that club one goal ahead.

Twenty-minute periods, no shootout

NHL Rule 84.5 uses a separate playoff procedure. After a tie at the end of regulation, the clubs take a 15-minute intermission and play 20-minute overtime periods, changing ends for the start of each one. The first legal goal wins.

At full strength, playoff overtime is ordinary five-skater hockey; penalties can still change manpower. If an overtime period ends scoreless, another intermission and overtime period follow. There is no shootout at any point in a Stanley Cup Playoff game, and league standings points are irrelevant: the result is a win or loss in the playoff series.

A shootout decides one game goal, not a string of player goals

Rule 84.4 records a shootout result by adding one goal to the winning club's score at the end of overtime, regardless of how many attempts entered the net. A game tied 2–2 after overtime is therefore recorded 3–2, whether the shootout itself was won 1–0, 2–1 or after many rounds.

The decisive shootout scorer is not credited with a goal in personal statistics, and the losing goaltender is not charged with the added goal against. In the NHL's regular-season tiebreaking table, regulation wins (RW) are considered before regulation-and-overtime wins (ROW), and shootout wins enter only with total wins. That is why a shootout win counts in the standings but not in the RW or ROW column.

Three attempts each, unless the result is already certain

Under NHL Rule 84.4, after the ice is shoveled, the home team chooses whether to shoot first or second and the clubs alternate attempts. Each club has up to three attempts in the opening phase, in an order chosen by its coach. The procedure stops early when the trailing club can no longer catch the other with its remaining attempts.

Goaltenders defend the goal closest to their own players' bench—the same end their team defended in the first and third periods.

“Sudden death” still gives both teams an attempt

If the shootout remains tied after three attempts each, it continues one paired round at a time. The game is decided when one club scores in a round and the other club does not.

The first shooter scoring in an additional round does not end the game immediately. The other club must receive its attempt in that same round; a matching goal sends the shootout to another pair.

Eligible players must cycle before anyone repeats

Rule 84.4 permits eligible players to shoot in any order selected by the coach, but no player may shoot a second time until every eligible teammate has shot. Players serving a 10-minute misconduct, or assessed a game misconduct or match penalty, are ineligible. If a goaltender has a misconduct, the player designated to serve it is also ineligible.

If injury or penalty leaves one club with fewer eligible shooters, both clubs may begin reusing players after the larger club reaches the smaller club's eligible total. The cycle continues until the shorter list has again been used completely. An ordinary unexpired time penalty is not, by itself, among Rule 84.4's listed exclusions.

A shootout attempt follows the penalty-shot procedure

Rule 84.4 sends shootout attempts to Rule 24. The shooter starts with the puck at centre on the referee's whistle and must keep it moving toward the opponent's goal line. Once the puck is shot, crosses the goal line or comes to a complete stop, the attempt is complete.

There is no playable rebound. The narrow rulebook exception allows a goal when the puck goes off the post or crossbar, then the goaltender, and directly into the net. A shooter cannot collect a saved rebound and score. Rule 24.2 also prohibits a completed 360-degree “spin-o-rama” approach.

The same goaltender remains unless injured

Once the shootout begins, a club cannot replace its goaltender except because of injury; a substitute receives no warm-up. The goaltender must remain in the crease until the shooter touches the puck at centre.

The on-ice call is not necessarily the last word on a close attempt. Under NHL Rule 37.3(j), the Situation Room may review the legitimacy of a potential shootout goal, including whether the puck crossed the line legally, whether there was a double touch or illegal rebound, and whether the shooter or goaltender complied with the attempt procedure.

A power play adds an attacker; it does not remove a team below three

Three-on-three is the regular-season overtime baseline, not a rule that every penalty makes the offending club skate two-on-three. Under Rule 84.3, a single overtime penalty normally produces four-on-three. A two-player advantage produces five-on-three; the penalized club is not reduced below three skaters.

When a penalty expires during play, the returning player may temporarily create four-on-four or five-on-four. At the next stoppage, the officials adjust the teams back to the proper three-on-three or four-on-three overtime strength. Penalties still running when regulation ends are converted according to Rule 84.3 and the rulebook's Tables 15 and 16; for example, a five-on-three regulation situation starts overtime five-on-three.

Pulling the goaltender can put the tie point at risk

A team may pull its goaltender for an additional skater in regular-season overtime. Rule 84.2 creates an unusual consequence: if that team loses while the goaltender is removed, it forfeits the point it had automatically earned by reaching overtime.

The forfeiture does not apply when the goaltender was removed because of a delayed penalty against the opponent. Once voluntarily removed for an extra attacker in overtime, the goaltender cannot return on the fly; the team must wait for a stoppage. An early return brings a bench minor for an ineligible player.

How to resolve an NHL tie correctly

1. Confirm that the game is NHL regular season or Stanley Cup Playoffs.
2. At the end of regulation, record the tied score and any unexpired penalties.
3. For the regular season, award one point each and set overtime manpower under Rules 84.1 and 84.3.
4. If a legal overtime goal is scored, stop; otherwise move to the Rule 84.4 shootout after five minutes.
5. For each shootout round, check eligibility, attempt order and Rule 24 legality before comparing the paired results.
6. For a playoff game, ignore the regular-season shortcut and continue 20-minute sudden-death periods under Rule 84.5.

Sudden death means the first legal overtime goal

An apparent overtime goal can still be disallowed under the NHL's ordinary goal and review rules—for example, for offside, goaltender interference or an illegal scoring action. If review overturns the goal, the game has not acquired a winner and resumes from the prescribed restart and restored time.

That is different from a shootout, where attempts are discrete and the Situation Room can review whether a potential goal complied with the penalty-shot procedure. In neither phase does the excitement of an apparent winner bypass the underlying goal-validity rules.

A penalty expires during 3-on-3 overtime

Situation: under NHL 2025–26 rules, Blue takes a minor during ordinary three-on-three overtime. Red plays four-on-three. The penalty expires while play remains live, so Blue's player returns.

Ruling: play is temporarily four-on-four. At the next stoppage, officials reduce both clubs to three skaters. Rule 84.3 changes overtime manpower by adding the advantaged skater and restores the baseline at a stoppage; it does not make Blue skate two-on-three.

The fourth-round goal is not immediately decisive

Situation: the shootout is 1–1 after three attempts each. The club shooting first scores on attempt four.

Ruling: the other club still takes its fourth attempt. If it scores, the shootout continues; if it fails, the first club wins. “Sudden death” in Rule 84.4 compares equal numbers of attempts within the additional round.

A saved puck is knocked in by the shooter

Situation: a shootout shot hits the goaltender, rebounds to the shooter and is then knocked into the net.

Ruling: no goal under NHL Rule 24.2. The original shot completed the attempt and a rebound cannot be played. This differs from the narrow post-or-crossbar, then goaltender, then directly-in exception, which needs no second play by the shooter.

An empty-net gamble loses the standings point

Situation: in regular-season overtime, Gold voluntarily removes its goaltender for an extra attacker with no delayed penalty. Blue gains the puck and scores into the empty net.

Ruling: Blue wins, and Gold forfeits the standings point normally secured at the end of regulation. Rule 84.2 makes the no-goaltender loss the decisive fact. The result would be different if Gold had removed its goaltender because a delayed penalty was being called against Blue.

Five shortcuts that produce the wrong result

• “Three-on-three means three players total”: Rule 84.1 means three skaters plus one goaltender per club.
• “A penalty makes overtime three-on-two”: the usual one-player advantage is four-on-three.
• “The first goal in shootout sudden death wins instantly”: the other club receives its matching attempt in that round.
• “Every overtime loser gets one point”: Rule 84.2's voluntary extra-attacker exception can take that point away.
• “The playoffs eventually use a shootout”: Stanley Cup Playoff overtime continues in 20-minute sudden-death periods.

NHL source material

• National Hockey League Official Rules 2025–2026 — Rules 84.1–84.5 on regular-season overtime, shootouts and playoff overtime; Rule 24.2 on attempt procedure; Rule 37.3(j) on video review; Tables 15 and 16 on overtime penalties.
• NHL Video Rulebook, 2025–26 rulebook access and video examples — the league's official rulebook download page and review illustrations.
• NHL regular-season tie-breaking procedure — RW, ROW and total-wins ordering, plus treatment of the shootout-deciding goal in club standings.

Source note: this page was checked against the NHL's published 2025–26 rulebook and official standings material on 27 August 2026. The NHL regular-season and Stanley Cup Playoff procedures are kept separate. Other leagues, federations and tournaments may supplement or replace this format, and the NHL's 2026–27 rulebook should be checked when published.