No Shootouts in the NHL Playoffs: How Overtime Works
NHL playoff games use 20-minute, 5-on-5 sudden-death overtime—not shootouts. Compare postseason and regular-season rules, including penalty shots.
No. NHL playoff games do not use shootouts. If the score is tied after regulation, teams play 20-minute sudden-death overtime periods until someone scores. There is no switch to a shootout after the first, second or any later overtime. This applies throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs, including the Final. NHL playoff overtime explanation
What happens when a playoff game is tied?
Under Rule 84.5 of the 2026–27 NHL rulebook, a game tied after three 20-minute regulation periods proceeds as follows:
- Teams take a 15-minute intermission.
- They return for a 20-minute overtime period, changing ends.
- The first goal ends the game immediately—the teams do not play out the remaining time.
- If nobody scores, they take another intermission and play another 20-minute period. This repeats until there is a winner. NHL Rule 84.5
Playoff overtime is normally 5-on-5: five skaters and a goalie per team, rather than the regular season’s 3-on-3 format. Penalties can change the number of skaters on the ice. The NHL describes postseason overtime as “5-on-5 until someone scores and ends the game.” NHL postseason explanation
Playoffs vs. regular season
The key difference is what happens if the first overtime period ends without a goal:
| Rule | NHL regular season | Stanley Cup Playoffs |
|---|---|---|
| Overtime period length | Up to 5 minutes | Up to 20 minutes per period |
| Normal skater strength | 3-on-3 | 5-on-5 |
| First overtime goal | Ends the game | Ends the game |
| Still tied after overtime | Shootout | Another overtime period |
| Limit on overtime periods | One | No fixed limit |
The regular-season five-minute format and subsequent shootout are set out in Rules 84.1 and 84.4; the repeating playoff format is in Rule 84.5. NHL overtime rules
For example, if a playoff game is tied 2–2 after regulation and neither team scores in the first overtime, the score stays 2–2 and the game enters double overtime. If someone scores seven minutes into that period, it ends 3–2 after 87 minutes of playing time: 60 + 20 + 7. That excludes intermissions and stoppages, which add to how long a hockey game takes to watch.
A penalty shot is not a shootout
A playoff game can still include a penalty shot. That is an individual scoring opportunity awarded for a qualifying infraction—not a tiebreaker introduced because overtime has run out. Rule 24 governs penalty shots, including their timing during overtime. NHL Rule 24
So seeing one skater face a goalie alone during a playoff game does not mean the NHL has switched to a shootout.