NHL Overtime

Let’s take a break from re-alignment.

One of the more glaring stupidities in sports is the way the NHL handles the scoring of overtime and shootout losses. A normal regulation victory has always been worth two points. If two teams tied they split the two points. When the brief overtime and shootout were introduced it was decided that it was unfair to come away empty handed if you battled to a tie and lost in the admittedly gimmicky 4-on-4 or shootout. While the winner would get the full two, the loser would still get a point for the regulation tie.

You don’t want to treat the overtime/shootout loss the same as a regulation loss? Fine, but only if you adjust the points for the overtime/shootout win accordingly. Instead, under the current system, a game that goes to overtime is worth more points than one that does not. Not only is this random and stupid, but it gives teams an incentive to sit on a tie in regulation rather than pulling out the stops to secure the fleeting two points- because those two points aren’t fleeting at all. Teams know that extra point will still be there in overtime, when they’ve already locked up a point. Why risk that point to go for it in regulation when they can risk nothing to go for it in overtime?

The English Premier League has gone the opposite direction. A clean win is worth three points. A tie is only worth one point apiece. If two teams split a two game series they are better off than if they tied twice. This puts pressure on everyone to gun for the win even if it means risking the point from the tie. In the NHL the reverse is true. Splitting a series on two shootouts earns each team three points. Splitting in regulation only earns them two. As a result, if two teams put on an exciting, aggressive final few minutes of a tie game they are making a strategic blunder. The optimal strategy, in fact, is to sit around for three periods doing nothing in unspoken collusion. Plain and simple, this system is idiotic. If you want to be equitable, while also inducing aggression and excitement, make it three for a clean win, two for an OT win, and one for an OT loss.