TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. – A wide smile suddenly emerged across Gustav Nyquist’s face when he was asked about the NHL’s new overtime format for the upcoming season.
“It’s fun hockey,” the Red Wings’ winger said. “A lot of open space out there.”
More open ice means a couple of things. First, fewer games will need to be decided by shootout, which was first introduced to the league in 2005-06. Secondly, more ice will create room for crafty skaters like Nyquist to pad their offensive statistics.
Nyquist has just two OT goals in 179 NHL regular-season games.