Overtime and the one time-out
Rule numbers: NFHS 9-11-1 NFHS 9-12-4 NFHS 4-1-3
The base NFHS rule: if a game is tied after three periods and overtime is played, teams take a three-minute break in their bench areas, switch ends, and play up to eight more minutes. A note lets state associations adopt their own overtime policies for any game, so check what your state uses. Each team has one one-minute time-out per game. Only a coach, captain or alternate captain may request it, at a normal stoppage before the puck is dropped. The other team may also use that time-out, for example to warm up its goalkeeper with no more than 10 pucks. Unexpired penalties carry into overtime.
- Clock
- Base rule: up to 8:00 of overtime; penalties carry over. Your state's adopted format controls.
Example
Team A saves its time-out through regulation and calls it in overtime. That is allowed, since overtime counts as an extension of the third period.
Common mistake: Treating one state's overtime format as the NFHS rule, or allowing a second time-out in overtime.
Sources
- 2024-25 NFHS Ice Hockey Rules Book, Rule 4-1-3, p. 22
- 2024-25 NFHS Ice Hockey Rules Book, Rule 9-11-1, 9-12-4, p. 50-51
Verified