2026 Olympic Hockey: Here’s how overtime and shootout rules change throughout the tournament

Mitch Marner scored 1:22 into overtime to win it for Canada in the quarterfinals, Artturi Lehkonen needed 3:23 to cash Finland’s ticket to the semifinals and Quinn Hughes put the Americans through after 3:27.

After three of four quarterfinal men’s games went to overtime, here’s a refresher on how the OT and shootout rules change as the men’s and women’s Olympic hockey tournaments go along.

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Group play

Overtime in the round-robin was played almost exactly like the NHL, with five minutes of three-on-three play followed by a shootout if necessary. The only difference is the NHL shootout is minimum three rounds, while Olympic shootouts are minimum five rounds.

Only one game went to overtime in the preliminary round, with Switzerland getting past Czechia 4-3 in a shootout in the women’s tournament.

Knockout round

The single-elimination knockout round extends the initial three-on-three overtime period to 10 minutes before a five-round shootout.

Canada, Finland and the United States all won in overtime in the quarterfinals of the men’s tournament. None of the women’s quarterfinal or semifinal games needed extra time.

Gold medal game

The gold medal game will no longer be decided by a shootout. The Olympics is moving to NHL playoff-style 20-minute sudden-death overtime periods until a winner is decided. There is one big change, however, as the Olympics will play at three-on-three, while NHL playoffs stay five-on-five.

One of the greatest rivalries in sports is Canada vs. United States in women’s hockey, so it should be no surprise these foes went to overtime in the gold medal game. Unfortunately for Canadian fans, Megan Keller scored to give Team USA a 2-1 win for their third gold medal in Olympic women’s hockey.