A regulation hockey game is 60 minutes, but for Preds fans we have learned recently that not everything can be settled in those 60 minutes, sometimes it takes and extra five and then, as coach Trotz has said, a skills competition to determine the winner.
With seven games in the books the Preds have needed extra time and then a shootout to determine the winner of the game four times. That is over half of the Preds games that have gone 65 minutes, so they have played 440 minutes so far this season or 20 extra minutes than scheduled (an entire extra period of hockey). That doesn’t even count the total time that it takes for the shootout.
The New Jersey Devils are second in relation to the Preds having going to overtime or the shootout four times in six games (one shootout) for a grand total of 16 minutes and two seconds of extra time on the ice.
Vancouver is in the same path that the Preds are going to a shootout every time extra time was needed up to this point. In seven games the Canucks have going to a shootout three times for 15 extra minutes.
What does this mean? Well right now it just means that these teams are getting some extra ice time and that they are at least earning a point regardless of the outcome. As the shortened season progresses to the end those extra points might be the difference between making plans for the playoffs or a tee time.
