What is Overtime?

The extra period played when a game is tied after regulation, where the first team to score wins.

What this tells us

When a game is tied after 60 minutes, both teams play a 5-on-5 overtime period (in the regular season) to break the tie. The first goal ends the game immediately — there's no playing out the period. In the playoffs, teams play full 20-minute periods of sudden-death overtime until someone scores.

Limitations

Overtime play is a small slice of the season — most games are decided in regulation. Overtime stats can be skewed by small sample size, and the sudden-death format changes strategy (more risk-taking, fewer defensive plays). For season-long evaluation of a player or team, overtime performance matters less than what happens in the first 60 minutes.

Example

A goaltender might have a great regular-season save percentage, but if their team plays a lot of overtime, a few bad OT losses can drag down their overall numbers. That's why looking at regulation-only stats sometimes tells a clearer story.