Overtime success can be difference between making, missing playoffs

The Coaches Room is a regular feature throughout the 2018-19 NHL season by one of four former NHL coaches and assistants who will turn their critical gaze to the game and explain it through the lens of a teacher.
In this edition, Curt Fraser, who coached the Atlanta Thrashers for four seasons and served as an assistant with the New York Islanders, St. Louis Blues and Dallas Stars, discusses the importance of a smart approach to overtime.

Every game in the NHL is hotly contested, every point in the standings crucial, which makes overtime so vitally important.
While five minutes doesn't seem like a long time on paper, fans are treated to the finest players in the world competing in a 3-on-3 overtime with speed, skill and sheer will to lead their teams to victory in a short period that for a coach can seem like a lifetime.
It does because of how important the extra point you can earn is to your team's success and the chances you have of making it to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
For example, last season the Columbus Blue Jackets were plus-6 in overtime goal differential (9-3) and made the playoffs with 97 points; the Florida Panthers were minus-2 (3-5) and missed the postseason with 96 points.
In 2015-16, when 3-on-3 overtime was introduced and we as coaches were wondering how in the world you're supposed to coach this, the Philadelphia Flyers were plus-4 in overtime goal differential (10-6) and made the playoffs with 96 points. The Boston Bruins were minus-2 (5-7) and finished with 93 points, on the outside looking in.
Overtime points have increased in value because more games are going to overtime and the NHL started putting emphasis on regulation/overtime wins (ROW), excluding the shootout from the tiebreaker.

This season 129 games have gone past 60 minutes, with 92 being won in overtime compared to 37 in the shootout. The numbers used to be almost reverse before 3-on-3, with more games being decided in the shootout than in overtime.
The standings are being impacted again.
The Edmonton Oilers have won five of their eight games that have been decided in overtime, helping them get in position as the second wild card in the Western Conference with 39 points. The Winnipeg Jets have won five of their six games decided in overtime, an extra five points that has helped them to a four-point lead on the Nashville Predators for first place in the Central Division.
The New York Rangers have lost four of their five games decided in overtime. They'd be two points out of a playoff spot with those extra four points; instead they are six points back.
What about strategy? Well, the overtime period is being won with it, plus a solid mixture of skill and execution. It's not run and gun. It's not a free-for-all. There's a method to the madness, so to speak.
Overtime is all about puck possession and maintaining it at all costs.
The key is patience and waiting for an outnumbered opportunity to present itself. Teams never will relinquish possession for a line change, frozen puck or face-off. The good overtime teams are patient enough to retreat and change personnel, even if 30-40 seconds tick off the clock, until they get one optimal opportunity.
Turnovers, careless passing and even missing the net on a scoring chance invites quality scoring chances against you almost right away. Players must make good decisions with the puck, which means knowing when to shoot, when to turn back and regroup, and even when to use your goaltender. You only change with possession.

Using the neutral zone to your advantage is huge. When there is no play in the offensive zone teams will carry or pass the puck out of the offensive zone to regroup or get a line change rather than risk giving up possession or risk giving up the puck on a low-percentage scoring chance that can cost valuable possession time and sometimes the game itself.
While icing, offside and the rest of the rules still apply, practically speaking there's very little distinction between the three zones in overtime; it's more useful to think of the ice as one big zone.
In fact, playing 3-on-3 only in the offensive zone is difficult and makes it very challenging to create offense. Beating man-on-man coverage takes a lot of speed and skill. Quick pivots, changes of direction and tight turns all stress the defending team.
The puck carrier also needs immediate and close outlets. Teammates need to come to the puck and work switches.
Another effective strategy is to find the ice behind an opponent to create a 2-on-1 in a small area. This forces the defending team to make decisions, and it takes a single mistake to create a quality scoring chance. While very skilled teams can thrive in the offensive zone, most teams will try to reload and generate these types of battles entering the zone instead.
Effective overtime teams look to draw tired players out far enough to create separation, but not enough to let them change. This gives teams the opportunity to build an attack and score off the rush.
The team that possesses and transports the puck through the middle of the ice has a higher chance of winning because they can move the puck or themselves in any direction, leading to opportunities. When your team tries to play off the wall the players have fewer options and become predictable.
In overtime you want to avoid face-offs because those are 50/50 pucks. That's why you'll always see goalies come out to play the puck to avoid icings. It's almost always better to have possession in your zone than a face-off in the attacking zone.
Teams are so evenly matched in today's NHL that finding ways to gain the extra point is critical to making the playoffs. We'll see it again this season, a team getting in because of its overtime success and a team missing because of it's failures.