How Do NHL Playoff Overtime Rules Work? | DIRECTV Insider
The NHL Playoffs are a different kind of hockey experience, including how overtime works. Here's your guide to understanding hockey overtime rules.
www.directv.comHere’s the latest on NHL playoff overtime rules as of 2026:
- Playoff overtime is unlimited: games continue with full 5-on-5 play in 20-minute periods until a team scores, with intermissions between periods. There is no shootout in the postseason.[1][2][3]
- Each overtime period is a fresh 20 minutes of play, and teams switch ends between periods; penalties still result in power plays, and all goals are reviewed by the Situation Room.[2][3]
- The rule set has remained 5-on-5 through OT in the playoffs since the 2015-16 change to 3-on-3 in the regular season; postseason formats do not include shootouts and do not end early unless a goal ends the game.[2]
- Notable trend: postseason overtime has produced several marathon games, with multiple instances of double and even triple overtime in recent seasons; this underscores the emphasis on genuine sudden-death stakes rather than a shootout.[3][4]
If you want, I can pull more specific items (e.g., recent playoff overtime incidents or longest postseason OT games) and summarize them with sources.