The KHL is looking to keep the play going forward in overtime as the league will test a rule change in their junior league.
The league sent out a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, explaining that during overtime, players are not allowed to skate with the puck back to their half of the ice in overtime. A faceoff will occur in the offending team’s end on the first violation and then a minor penalty shall be imposed for each one after that.
With the implementation of 3-on-3 overtime, teams have attempted to maintain possession by getting the player with the puck to regroup out of the attacking zone while the rest of his linemates retreat to the bench to complete a line change.
This has led to long periods where a team will try to hold onto the puck and not take a shot on goal. Eventually, teams try to find an opening or create a turnover to try and get an off-man advantage.
In the NHL, 3-on-3 overtime was implemented during the 2015-16 season in order to avoid having too many games go to a shootout or in some cases, try to get a quick end to a game in the extra period.
At the time, it was viewed as a welcome change by many, including “The Great One.”
“It’s one of the best things we’ve done in hockey in the last 20 years. It’s exciting for fans. I know some of the players sort of complained about it,” Wayne Gretzky told Sportsnet back in 2015, “but I think all in all, most players like it.”
The NHL has considered modifying the overtime rules to implement a shot clock similar to the NBA or even restrict teams from skating back into their own zone, as the KHL is doing.
“We don’t mind the format; the one thing we don’t like is it that [teams and players] have decided that possession is key, and you get those boot-backs, kick-backs all the time,” senior vice-president of hockey operations for the NHL Colin Campbell said back in November.