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Hockey overtime and shootout rules at the Olympics change for later stages of tournament

Published: 19 Feb. 2026, 14:32 Updated: 19 Feb. 2026, 15:00

Canada's Mitch Marner, 93, and Macklin Celebrini, 17, celebrate after Marner scored the winning goal during the overtime period of a men's ice hockey quarterfinal game between Canada and Czechia at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, on Feb. 18. [AP/YONHAP]

Three of the four men's hockey quarterfinal games on Wednesday went past regulation, providing a reminder of how overtime rules work at the Olympics.

Canada beat Czechia 82 seconds into 3-on-3 overtime. Finland also tied it late and needed more than three minutes to defeat Switzerland. The United States allowed a goal with 91 seconds left in the third period before beating Sweden on Quinn Hughes' OT goal.

U.S. coach Mike Sullivan and his staff talked to players about International Ice Hockey Federation overtime rules.

“We did address overtime at the start of this tournament because we felt at some point it was going to play a role,” Sullivan said. "As a coaching staff, we prepared for that. We had a video session on it.”

The rules to decide games change as the tournament unfolds.

All of the round-robin games on the men's and women's sides follow NHL rules: 5 minutes of 3-on-3 OT, followed by a shootout. One change is that the shootout is five rounds at a minimum, whereas the NHL has three.

American T.J. Oshie's shootout heroics to beat host Russia in Sochi is among the most memorable moments of it since the league began participating in 1998. That year, Czech goaltender Dominik Hasek also famously eliminated Canada in a shootout, in which coach Marc Crawford infamously did not choose Wayne Gretzky as one of his five shooters.

There was only one group play shootout in Milan: Switzerland's women's team beating Czechia.

In the single-elimination knockout round from the qualification playoff, the quarterfinals, the semifinals, and the bronze medal game, teams play 10 minutes of 3-on-3 before going to a shootout, with a minimum of 5 skaters per team.

United States' Quinn Hughes, 43, shoots and scores his team's second goal to win the men's ice hockey quarterfinal game between the United States and Sweden at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, on Feb. 18. [AP/YONHAP]

Mitch Marner won it for Canada on Wednesday, skating through three defenders before backhanding the puck into the net.

“I don’t know what favors us or doesn’t favor us, we’ve obviously got some pretty good speed and skill," Canada's Tom Wilson said. "If it’s 5 on 5, I hope that would play to our skills, but also, I mean, it doesn’t matter to me. I’m not paid to do the rules. I’m here to play hockey and help this country win any way I can.”

When the U.S. beat Canada in the women’s final in 2018 in Korea, they did so in a thrilling shootout. That's no longer possible.

The gold medal game now moves closer to what the NHL uses: sudden-death until someone scores, but 3-on-3 instead of 5-on-5 like the Stanley Cup playoffs.

AP