Can hockey end in a tie? Yes—but not in today’s NHL
NHL games use overtime or a shootout to decide a winner. Youth and recreational hockey can allow ties, depending on league and tournament rules.
Yes, ice hockey can end in a tie if the competition’s rules allow it—but today’s NHL regular-season and playoff games do not. In the NHL, a tied regular-season game goes to overtime and, if needed, a shootout. Playoff games continue through sudden-death overtime until someone scores. Those procedures are set out in Rule 84 of the NHL’s 2026–27 rulebook.
The key distinction is tied after regulation versus recorded as a final tie. A 2–2 score at the end of the third period is not necessarily the result of the game.
What happens when an NHL game is tied?
Regular season: five minutes, then a shootout
When an NHL regular-season game is tied after 60 minutes, the teams play up to five minutes of sudden-death overtime, normally with three skaters and a goalie per side. The first goal ends the game; penalties can change the on-ice numbers.
If neither team scores, they proceed to a shootout. Each team gets up to three attempts, unless the outcome is decided earlier. If still level after those attempts, the shootout continues in sudden-death rounds. There is no final tie. NHL Rules 84.1, 84.3 and 84.4
Example: Two teams finish regulation and overtime at 2–2. Team A wins the shootout. The official final score is 3–2, regardless of how many shootout attempts went in. The extra goal determines the team result but is not credited to a player’s personal goal total. NHL Rule 84.4
The winner earns two standings points; the loser normally earns one. That losing point does not make the result a draw. NHL Rules 84.1–84.2 For reading team records, see what OTL means in hockey.
Playoffs: overtime until a goal
Stanley Cup playoff games use repeated 20-minute sudden-death overtime periods. If the first overtime ends scoreless, another follows. There is no shootout or scheduled limit on the number of overtime periods. NHL Rule 84.5
Our guide to NHL playoff overtime and shootout rules explains the postseason format in more detail.
Can youth or recreational hockey end tied?
Yes—but check the specific league and tournament rules. USA Hockey’s 2025–29 Rule 638 recommends a deciding procedure when a tied game must produce a winner. It also permits shootouts and explicitly allows affiliates and local governing bodies to set their own winner-determination rules. It does not impose the NHL format on every game. USA Hockey Rule 638
A concrete adult-league example is the Northern California Women’s Hockey League: its rules say a tied game may go to overtime if enough time remains in the ice slot. Overtime is therefore not guaranteed. NCWHL playing rules
For a player or parent, check three things before assuming a tied score means more hockey:
- Does this competition allow final ties?
- Are regular-season and tournament games treated differently?
- Is overtime mandatory, or dependent on available ice time?
Why do older NHL records show ties?
The NHL previously allowed regular-season games to finish tied. It introduced the shootout in 2005–06, eliminating those final ties, and changed to three-on-three overtime in 2015–16. NHL’s account of overtime rule changes
A T in an older NHL record can therefore represent a genuine tie. It is not interchangeable with today’s overtime-loss column: both the deciding procedure and the meaning of the result have changed.