Last five minutes and overtime: a major-versus-minor differential goes up at once
Rule numbers: NCAA 19.3 NCAA Appendix G
Rule 19.3 changes how a minor and a major at the same stoppage are handled late in games. In the last five minutes of regulation, or at any time in overtime, when one team gets a minor (or double minor) and the other team gets a major (or match) at the same stoppage, the three-minute (or one-minute) difference is served immediately as a major. The timekeeper posts it as a 3:00 or 1:00 penalty, and because it is served like a major, a power-play goal does not end it. It also applies when coincidental penalties cancel down to that pattern, and it applies whatever the on-ice strength was. Appendix G works through four cases, including one that does not fit the pattern.
the three-minute (or one-minute) differential shall be served immediately as a major penalty.
- On the ice
- The team with the major plays shorthanded for 3:00 (or 1:00).
- Clock
- Post a single 3:00 (minor vs major) or 1:00 (double minor vs major), served like a major; a goal does not end it.
- Scoresheet
- Record each player's full penalties as assessed; the clock shows only the differential.
Example
3:40 left in the third, 5-on-5. A3 takes a minor and B5 takes a major at the same stoppage. A 3:00 differential goes on Team B's clock and Team B plays shorthanded for three minutes (Appendix G, case 1).
Common mistake: Running it the ordinary way (substitution first, then the major's power play), or letting a goal release the differential.
Sources
- NCAA 2026-27 and 2027-28 Men's and Women's Ice Hockey Rules and Interpretations (IH28), Rule 19.3, pp. 37-38 (PDF pp. 40-41)
- NCAA 2026-27 and 2027-28 Men's and Women's Ice Hockey Rules and Interpretations (IH28), Appendix G, p. 138 (PDF p. 141)
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