While most sports around the world are played out in quarters, halves, or innings, ice hockey players battle it out in time frames that are known as periods.
A hockey game has three 20-minute periods for a total of 60 minutes of regulation time. The clock stops throughout the game when an on-ice official stops the action. If the score is tied an additional overtime period occurs.
How Long is A Period in Hockey? (Clock Time vs Real Time)
An official period in most competitive hockey leagues is 20 minutes long, but in actual time a period typically takes between approximately 30 to 40 minutes to complete. This is due to on-ice stoppages during the game for things such as goals, injuries, offside, icings, penalty calls, and a team’s official time out, and many other possibilities.
The clock does not run like soccer and football games between whistles.
Also, pro leagues such as the NHL take short timeouts several times per period to air television and radio commercials. On occasion, a period will take longer than the average to play if the teams should happen to engage in a fight or two, or because of a serious injury.
On average, a 60-minute NHL game will take approximately 2.5 hours to play.
What Happens Between a Hockey Period? (Intermissions)
NHL intermissions are now officially 18 minutes long and this time is used to resurface the ice with two Zambonis. Also, many teams hold on-ice competitions, draws, events, contests or games for fans during this break between periods.
Meanwhile, the players and on-ice officials return to their dressing rooms and typically have something to drink and/or eat to replenish their energy. The players are also usually spoken to by their coaches to discuss tactics and strategy etc.
Fans in attendance usually spend intermission time visiting the snack bars, souvenir shops and washrooms while those watching at home usually do the same thing, which is to grab something to eat and/or drink and use the bathroom. During the playoffs, intermissions in overtime are reduced to 15 minutes between each period.
Can Hockey Games Last Longer than 3 Periods?
An NHL game and those in most other leagues can extend beyond three periods if the game is tied at the end of 60 minutes of regulation time. The game continues into another period which is known as overtime or OT for short, not the fourth period.
After 3 periods, if a hockey game remains tied, it goes into an overtime period. This is not to be referred to as the fourth period.
The NHL re-introduced overtime in 1983-84 after it was originally eliminated by the league in 1942. All goals, assists, penalty minutes, and other statistics that occur in overtime are added to a player’s and team’s statistical records as normal.
Have any NHL Periods been Shorter than 20 Minutes?
There have been rare occasions when an NHL period was shorter than the regulated 20 minutes. The league’s rules state that if any unusual delays occur during the final five minutes of the first or second period, the referee may end the period.
The time remaining is then added to the start of the next period following an intermission. This has happened in the past due to players being seriously injured close to the end of the period and when on-ice brawls have taken place.
However, this is extremely rare and is unlikely to happen.
How Long are Overtime Periods?
During the regular season, NHL games that end tied after three periods go to a five-minute overtime period with no intermission or ice resurfacing before it begins. The first team to score wins the game as this is known as ‘sudden-death’ overtime.
Read our full post on “NHL Overtime Rules Explained: Regular-Season vs Playoffs” here.
In addition, each team is reduced to three skaters and a goalie for regular-season overtime sessions. If neither team scores in the five-minute overtime the game is settled by a penalty shootout. Each team selects three shooters, and if the game is still level after three shots, the shootout then enters the sudden-death format.
If a game is decided by a shootout, the goals scored and allowed as well as shots and saves aren’t included on individual and team statistics. Separate shootout statistics are kept though for interest sake.
Read our full shootout rules guide here for more information.
Regular Season vs Playoff Overtime Periods?
While regular-season NHL overtime periods are just five minutes in length, the teams play a full 20-minute period in playoff overtime. This is also sudden death but each team plays with a full complement of five skaters plus their goalie.
A game may go to multiple overtime periods before it’s decided in the NHL playoffs as there’s no penalty shootouts involved.
However, other leagues and tournaments may play just one period of overtime before settling things via a shootout. A team that wins a game in overtime or a shootout during the NHL regular season is awarded two points while the losing side receives one point.
Read our related post “Why Is There No Shootout in Playoff Hockey?” here.
The History of Hockey Periods:
Have Hockey Games Always Been Three Periods in Length?
Three-period hockey games were introduced in the 1910-11 season by the National Hockey Association (NHA). Before that, games were still 60 minutes long but were played in two periods or halves which were 30 minutes long. When the NHA evolved into the National Hockey League, which began play in 1917, the three-period format was kept.
Why Were Three 20-Minute Periods Chosen?
The main reason hockey games changed from two to three periods was due to the poor quality of the ice surface. It was felt that the ice should be cleaned and resurfaced every 20 minutes rather than after 30 minutes of play.
The ice deteriorates noticeably after a certain amount of time which makes it more difficult to play on. Poor ice conditions can also cause injuries to players and officials as well as slow down the action.
What Were the Shortest and Longest NHL Overtime Playoff Games?
The 5 longest NHL overtime games played:
- March 24, 1936: The Detroit Red Wings beat the Montreal Maroons 1-0 with the goal coming at the 16 minute and 30 second mark of the sixth overtime period.
- May 24, 2021: The Winnipeg Jets edged the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 at the 6:52 mark of the sixth overtime.
- April 3, 1933: The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Boston Bruins 1-0 with the goal being scored at the 4:46 mark of the sixth overtime.
- May 4, 2000: The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins when scoring at the 12:01 mark of the fifth overtime.
- Aug. 11, 2020: The Tampa Bay Lightning downed the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 when scoring at the 10:27 mark of the fifth overtime period.
The 5 shortest NHL overtime playoff games played:
- May 18, 1986: The Montreal Canadiens beat the Calgary Flames 3-2 when scoring after just 9 seconds.
- June 4, 2011: The Vancouver Canucks downed the Boston Bruins 3-2 at the 11 second mark of overtime.
- April 11, 1975: The New York Islanders downed the New York Rangers 4-3 after only 11 seconds.
- April 16, 2009: The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Calgary Flames 3-2 at the 12 second mark of overtime.
- April 9, 1972: The Chicago Blackhawks edged the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-5 after just 12 seconds.
What was the Longest Playoff Game in Hockey History?
The longest competitive hockey game in history reportedly occurred in Norway on March 12, 2017. The Storhamar Ishockey club beat Sparta Sarpsborg 2-1 when Joakim Jensen scored at the 17:14 mark of the game’s eighth overtime period.
This meant the two teams played 157:14 of overtime hockey as well as 60 minutes of regulation play for a total of 217 minutes and 14 seconds. It was the fifth game of the quarter-final series in the nation’s GET-Ligaen playoffs. The game faced off at 6 pm and didn’t finish until 2:32 am the following morning.
Recreational Hockey Period Questions
How Long are Recreational Hockey Periods?
Most recreational hockey leagues in North America play either two or three periods of the same length of time for each period. Depending on the specific league, age and skill level of the players, most periods in rec hockey are usually 10, 15, or 20 minutes long.
You’ll rarely find any league that plays periods longer than 20 minutes, but it is possible. Also, some leagues will stop the clock at each whistle while other leagues may keep the clock running, which is typically referred to as ‘straight time.’ When it comes to straight time, it means a 15-minute period will also be 15 minutes long in real-time.
Do They Clean the Ice Between Rec Hockey Periods?
In most children’s, minor, and recreational leagues, there are no intermissions, and the ice isn’t resurfaced between periods. However, in some travel and all-star leagues or tournaments, there may possibly be one intermission during a game with a resurfacing.
In general, though, the ice is only resurfaced after each game as this is too time-consuming and costly.
Is there Overtime in Rec Hockey?
Some, but not many rec hockey leagues, may play overtime to settle games, but they may also go straight to a shootout to decide a winner. The reason for this is basically because the league rents the ice by the hour and they simply don’t have the time to play an extra session without running over their allotted ice time.
Check out some related articles here:
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Jamie is the founder of Hockey Response and he is the chief writer/ lead editor. Jamie has been playing hockey for over 20 years. He was the defenseman of the year in NL and has played Jr A level hockey. Jamie has coached several kids hockey camps and he was the assistant coach of the Western Kings.