When Jake Oettinger attended NHL games in Minnesota growing up, he loved when the two teams playing got through regulation and overtime and then went to the shootout.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou feel like you won the lottery: You get to watch a shootout,\u201d said Oettinger, whose perspective hasn’t changed much after five seasons tending goal in the league for the Dallas Stars. \u201cI see how some people are like, it\u2019s stupid, but then also it\u2019s fun. You get to be basically in the spotlight, and you get decide the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
After 5,729 ties<\/a> in the NHL\u2019s first 87 seasons, a controversial change was made in 2005 to eliminate what many considered to be a relic of a bygone era of the tradition-heavy sport. In the past 20 years since, 2,486 games have gone to a shootout. Fans love the format, which is a mainstay in international compeititions like the Winter Olympics.<\/a><\/p>\n An entire generation of players and fans have never seen a tie in an NHL game, just the 1-on-1 competition for a minimum of three rounds to ensure one side goes home with a win and the other with a loss. It is part of the fabric of hockey.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a big transition,\u201d said Erik Christensen, the most successful shootout specialist in league history with goals on more than half his attempts. \u201cI think if you\u2019re a true hockey fan, you can be happy with a great game that ends in a 2-2 tie. But we\u2019re in the entertainment industry, and people want to walk out of there seeing a winner and a loser.\u201d<\/p>\n Fewer games are ending in a shootout than ever before<\/p>\n For the first decade of the shootout era, if the score was tied after the third period there was a 4-on-4 overtime period and, if no one scored, the shootout itself. At its high-water mark in 2009-10, 15% of all games reached a shootout, which was not the intent.<\/p>\n The advent of 3-on-3 OT in 2015-16 cut that number nearly in half. Last season, a record low 5.9% of games went to shootouts.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m glad the NHL has moved away from that, where I think the game should be more won with more of what hockey is,\u201d Christensen said. \u201cI like the way the game is played now with the 3 on 3 and deciding games that way.\u201d<\/p>\n When there are shootouts, a lot of the moves and saves end up on highlight reels. Crowds feel like they get their money’s worth.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first couple of years, guys were going straight down \u2014 typical breakaway \u2014 and now they\u2019re showcasing their skill a lot more,\u201d said Hall of Fame goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, whose 61 shootout victories rank second all time. \u201cThey\u2019re way more creative today than they were 15 years ago.”<\/p>\n Points earned in the shootout can make a difference<\/p>\n Lundqvist was on the losing end of a shootout with the New York Rangers on the final day of the 2009-10 season when the winner made the playoffs. Brian Boucher and Philadelphia came out on top to get in and went on a run to the Stanley Cup Final.<\/p>\n The NHL’s point format gives one apiece to each team when a game goes past regulation. An extra point is earned for winning in overtime or a shootout, and those can add up. <\/p>\n \u201cIn the end, that could be the difference,\u201d said Lundqvist, now a TNT analyst. \u201cThey are big points. They really are. And maybe you don\u2019t feel them being that big early on in the season, but going down the stretch, you definitely feel that pressure and that\u2019s exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n The result in the moment can also provide a huge emotional swing. Ottawa’s Linus Ullmark, who won the Vezina Trophy as top goaltender in 2023 with Boston, has a love\/hate relationship with the shootout for that very reason.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you go out there and you actually manage to save all three of them and you win in a shootout, you feel like the best,\u201d Ullmark said. \u201cYou go out there and you let it in three, and then you feel like you\u2019re the worst goalie ever. That\u2019s just how it is.\u201d<\/p>\n Martin Brodeur, whose 691 wins are the most of any goalie, feels the same way.<\/p>\n “As a goalie or as a team you can play a hell of a game and get a loss so the next day\u2019s mood is everybody\u2019s mad because we lost,\u201d Brodeur said. \u201cBut we lost a skills competition, so I was never a big fan of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Shooters feel stress just like goalies do<\/p>\n Pierre-Luc Dubois will never forget his first NHL shootout with Columbus, when coach John Tortorella asked him if he was any good at it. <\/p>\n \u201cI said no, and then he said, \u2018OK, well, you\u2019re going,\u2019\u201d Dubois recalled. \u201cWhen you score, it\u2019s fun. When you don\u2019t, that skate from the net to the bench, especially when it\u2019s far, it\u2019s just not fun and you know everybody\u2019s staring at you like, \u2018Oh look at this guy.\u2019 The highs are very high, and the lows are very low and lonely.”<\/p>\n Not everyone can be as good as Christensen, who scored on 52.7% of his shots and may have prolonged his career because of it. Patrick Kane has the most shootout goals with 53 \u2014 and counting \u2014 followed by Jonathan Toews with 52.<\/p>\n Others don’t necessarily feel that pressure, perhaps because they’re not getting tapped on the shoulder with the game on the line.<\/p>\n \u201cI suck at it, so I don\u2019t really go,\u201d Carolina’s Seth Jarvis said. \u201cBut I do think it\u2019s fun. Obviously there\u2019s probably better ways to end a game, but for me I think it\u2019s just exciting. I think that it brings a different aspect that people don\u2019t always see.\u201d<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n AP Hockey Writer John Wawrow contributed.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n