Canes are racking up OT games with the rest of the NHL
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Brandon Bussi, goaltender for the Carolina Hurricanes, had his first NHL shutout Sunday in Raleigh. (Photo by Jaylynn Nash/Getty Images)
The Carolina Hurricanes notched another overtime win this past weekend in an NHL season chock-full of them.
Why it matters: The NHL is seeing the most overtime games in the 20-year history of the salary cap era, The Athletic reported, thanks in part to the highly competitive and evenly matched Eastern Division in which the Canes play.
Between the lines: The NHL standings aren't determined by just wins and losses. There's a points system in place, and an overtime loss still gives a team 1 point. (Victories are 2 points, while regulation losses are 0.)
- "Right now with the standings so close, it's clear teams are often playing for the loser point late in games," James Mirtle wrote for The Athletic.
By the numbers: Carolina has had 28% of its games go to OT this year, well above the league average, which late last week was 19.5% — or around one in five games.
- Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Flyers are on pace to break a single-season overtime record, The Hockey News reports, with 43% of their games going to overtime.
Driving the news: The Athletic calculates the NHL is on track to play the sixth-most overtime games in history, and the most since a salary cap was put in place in 2005.
- The Canes are on track to play more overtime games than they have in a decade, according to a StatMuse analysis. The team's overtime percentage maxed out at 33% in 2001, around the same time that the Athletic calculates that OT in the league peaked above 25%.
State of play: Carolina is currently sitting on top of the Metropolitan Division, and the team is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the season they took home the Stanley Cup.
- It was the state's first major league sports championship. No other men's pro franchise in North Carolina has ever taken home a title.
Zoom in: The Canes won five of their seven OT games this season, with Seth Jarvis notching three of the game-winners. Sebastian Aho and Nikolaj Ehlers scored the others.
- Aho says playing three-on-three in overtime is fun, telling reporters earlier this season that "obviously it's something that I enjoy. Crowd is into it, and you have more time to make some plays."
What's next: The team plays its next four games at home in the Lenovo Center, and the 20th anniversary celebrations kick off Sunday.
- On Monday night, head coach Rod Brind'Amour and other alumni from the Stanley Cup team are playing a benefit game against N.C. State's club team.