Carolina Hurricanes Prepared to Embrace 3-on-3 NHL Overtimes

The overtime of the Carolina Hurricanes' game against the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday was the kind of overtime that comes around far too rarely.

It was the four-on-four overtime that was likely envisioned when the concept was introduced in 1999: a rink full of space and eight skaters eager to take advantage of it without abandon, ready to risk almost everything to try to win the game on each rush.

The disease of ultra-conservatism that usually plagues NHL overtimes nowadays was nonexistent. The teams—one desperately needing the two points, the other with nothing to lose—appeared fully content to trade odd-man counterattacks back and forth.

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It was just the kind of reckless, thrilling party of an overtime that's usually cut off far too early by the horn and banished to commissioner Gary Bettman's dreaded shootout land. But this time, it wasn't.

Erik Karlsson, Kyle Turris and Mark Stone combined for an absolutely spectacular goal to win it for Ottawa with 14 seconds left in the extra frame. From a neutral perspective, one could hardly have imagined a better and more fitting finish to the contest.

The Sens' clutch 2-1 victory was also fitting because of an announcement made several hours before puck drop and several hundred miles south of Raleigh.

The Associated Press' Sandra Harwitt reports that the NHL's board of general managers met in Boca Raton, Florida on Tuesday afternoon and approved the implementation of a three-on-three overtime for next season.

"The recommendations will go to the joint NHL/NHLPA competition committee, which meets in June and must approve any rule changes," Harwitt added.

According to ESPN Insider Craig Custance, the AHL has used a seven-minute overtime system with up to three minutes on three-on-three this season and seen the percentage of games decided in shootouts drop from 15.6 to 5.6 percent.

For the Canes, who are tied for the fewest all-time shootout wins in the NHL with a 30-42 record, the shift away from the skills competition would likely be appreciated.

Goaltender Cam Ward may like it most: He's 12-30 in shootouts in his otherwise largely successful career.

However, the numbers suggest the greater emphasis on overtime instead of the shootout would not be much better for the Hurricanes. After all, Carolina is an atrocious 8-22 in games decided in overtime over the past four seasons.

Tuesday's loss to Ottawa dropped the Hurricanes to 1-3 in overtime games this season (4-6 in shootouts), and their one win in extra time came against Columbus back in November.

But the change would at least provide a refreshing format and clean slate for a club that has perennially—or at least ever since the "Cardiac Canes" era of 2009 died—struggled in pressure situations.

If head coach Bill Peters trots out the Staal brothers and Justin Faulk as a three-on-three overtime trio next autumn, the Canes may have good reason to be optimistic at last about their overtime odds.

Fans of the team would appreciate a little more excitement, too. Attendance at PNC Arena has dropped tremendously in recent years.

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Back on Feb. 25, 2012, the Hurricanes and Florida Panthers enjoyed a sneak preview of what would not become a regular part of the NHL until over three years later.

After Eric Staal and Eric Gudbranson were both sent off for roughing with two minutes and nine seconds left in overtime, the teams traded two-on-one breaks during a couple minutes of the heart-pumping bedlam known as three-on-three sudden-death overtime.

Amazingly, neither team scored during the sequence and Florida eventually won the game in a shootout.

The closing minutes of overtime nevertheless created an indelible memory among the 18,860 at PNC Arena that night of just how intoxicating the concept can be.

Three-on-three creates hockey at its most frantic and most intense. The clock ceases to matter. Only the definite knowledge that one team and one team only must win prevails. 

How each respective NHL team, the Hurricanes included, will prepare and adapt for the game's newest potential feature will create some intrigue entering the 2015-16 season.

Mark Jones has been a Carolina Hurricanes featured columnist for Bleacher Report since 2009. Visit his profile to read more or follow him on Twitter.