Could The 2025 Stanley Cup Final Tie A 74-Year-Old Overtime ...
This Stanley Cup final rematch between the Edmonton Oilers and the Florida Panthers has been so tight after four games that three of the four games required overtime.
thehockeynews.comHere’s the latest on Stanley Cup overtime rules.
- Overtime in the playoffs remains until a goal is scored, with five-on-five play for 20-minute periods, repeated as needed (sudden death). There is no shootout in the playoffs.[1][5]
- If a penalty occurs during playoff overtime, the power-play team can field an extra skater, creating a temporary six-skater/three-on-three dynamic, then returns to the standard setup when the penalty expires.[1]
- Regular-season overtime is five-on-five for 20 minutes and can end in a shootout, but that shootout format does not apply in the playoffs.[4][1]
- Historical context: playoff overtime can extend for multiple periods, with some series famously reaching six overtimes in rare instances; the format is designed to maximize chances of a decisive goal rather than a shootout.[5]
Illustration: In the Stanley Cup Final, if the game is tied after the first 20-minute overtime, a new 20-minute overtime period begins under the same five-on-five, sudden-death rules, with no shootout unless the game is decided earlier.[4]
If you’d like, I can pull a few current examples from the latest finals to show how often overtime has occurred this season and compare playoff overtime lengths across recent years.