Summarize and humanize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in English“Sudden Death” isn’t just a hockey-themed action movie. It’s a term commonly associated with overtime in the Stanley Cup playoffs — and it makes the NHL’s postseason different from not only the league’s regular season, but also the postseasons of North America’s other major professional sports leagues.As in a regular-season game, an NHL playoff game tied after regulation extends to overtime, where a team can win by scoring the next goal. But this is where the similarities end.A playoff game with no winner after the third period will pause for 15 minutes — an “intermission” during which teams return to their dressing rooms and the ice surface is cleaned by machines.Upon returning, the teams will resume play at five-on-five for 20-minute periods, each followed by another 15-minute intermission, until a goal is scored. The team that scores is declared the winner, bringing a “sudden death” to the losing team.Some other factoids about overtime in the Stanley Cup playoffs:
Periods begin with a faceoff at center ice.
Play is contested at five-on-five unless dictated otherwise by penalties (unlike three-on-three in regular-season overtime).
Remaining time from a penalty assessed at the end of regulation, or from the previous overtime period, carries over into the overtime period.
Teams attack/defend a different end of the ice at the start of overtime. A home team will shoot at the same end as it had for the second period during the first overtime period, then shoot at the same end as it had for the first and third periods if a second overtime period is required. That rotation will continue until the game is over.
After a stoppage in play, the home team is granted “last change” of on-ice players before the ensuing faceoff. A visiting coach is required to deploy his skaters first.
There are no TV timeouts.
There is no shootout, which is how a regular-season game is decided if it remains tied after a five-minute overtime period.
When was the first sudden-death overtime game in the playoffs?Game 4 of the 1919 Stanley Cup Final between the Seattle Metropolitans and Montreal Canadiens ended in a 0-0 tie after two overtime periods. Players from each team had reportedly collapsed from exhaustion at the end of the second overtime period, and the tie result was ruled as final.Before Game 5, it was decided that future playoff games would be played until a winning goal was scored.What are the longest playoff games in NHL history?A playoff game has been extended beyond four overtime periods on only five occasions:
March 24, 1936: Detroit Red Wings 1, Montreal Maroons 0 (sixth OT, 116 minutes, 30 seconds)
April 4, 1933: Toronto Maple Leafs 1, Boston Bruins 0 (sixth OT, 104;46)
May 4, 2000: Philadelphia Flyers 2, Pittsburgh Penguins 1 (fifth OT, 92:01)
Aug. 11, 2020: Tampa Bay Lightning 3, Columbus Blue Jackets 2 (fifth OT, 90:27)
April 24, 2003: Anaheim Ducks 4, Dallas Stars 3 (fifth OT, 80:48)
Has the Stanley Cup ever been won with an overtime goal?The Cup winner has been determined with an overtime goal 17 times. The most recent was Alec Martinez’s goal in double-overtime for the Los Angeles Kings in Game 5 of the 2014 Final. The first example was Bill Cook of the New York Rangers in the first overtime of Game 4 of the 1933 Cup Final.How many overtime games were played in the 2024 playoffs?There were 16 overtime games in the 2024 playoffs. Twelve were decided in the first overtime period, four in the second overtime.(Photo: Joel Auerbach / Getty Images)
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