Until this season if teams were tied in the standings, the tiebreaker was regulation or overtime wins (ROW). The league put more weight on an overtime win than a victory by shootout. While that tiebreaker is still in effect, there is another one that comes first and that is wins in regulation. So far this season, the New York Rangers have one of the best records in the league when it come to regulation wins.
Putting priority on regulation wins makes sense. Teams should be more aggressive in the third period, rather than play safely to get the proverbial “loser point.