Less than two minutes to go in overtime. Do you pull your goalie?
Would you, or would you not, pull your goalie late in a game if you are down by a goal?
Most of the time, coaches will pull their goalie with three minutes or less to play. In rare instances, even with more time on the clock. Now, I will ask you another question and please, I want to know, please use social media, and the comments at the bottom to let me know yes or no to the next question and WHY.
There is less than two minutes left in overtime. Do you pull your goalie? Yes or no and why?
Well, this is the big news overseas this season. And there’s good and bad (I’ll keep the bad for the end). Four years ago, my head coach in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, had the idea of maybe trying to pull the goalie to try and win in overtime because things never worked out in overtime for them. They ended up not doing it, but since that moment they have always had that idea in the back of their mind that maybe one day.
Well, fast forward, it’s the 2021-22 KHL season, teams have started to use that strategy. They’re pulling their goalie, usually with less than two minutes remaining in overtime, but sometimes even right at the start of the overtime session.
So far this season, it’s been more positive than negative. The opponent doesn’t want to get caught with three forwards on the ice because usually, when you are defending a 4v3, you send 2D and 1F, but in a 3v3 overtime, you send 3F or 2F and 1D, and usually your more offensive players, but that mindset changes in case you have to defend a 4v3. So why not trying to take advantage of the opponent by playing 4 against 3 players, who usually don’t have any idea how to play as three man unit on the penalty kill.
Note: While it’s only a matter of time before we see this in North America, I would be surprised to see it in the NHL anytime soon because of the risk of losing a point. Based on this rule that the NHL has created years ago: ”The NHL discourages teams from pulling their goaltender during an overtime period; if a team does so, and subsequently loses the game when their opponent scores an empty net goal, the losing team does not receive the one point in the standings they would otherwise have received for an overtime loss.” Interesting.
November 17, 2021
CSKA wanted to win the game and had the confidence to do it by pulling their goalie. Why not. With 1:40 left in OT and no more goalie, it’s a 4v3. I can tell you that Dynamo touched the puck only once in the 1 minute and 40 seconds. CSKA had possession the whole time. A lot of chances, a lot of puck movement, just were not able to finish. The result, no winner after the OT period.
December 02, 2021
CSKA decided to give it another try in OT. But this time, right after the start of OT at 4:30 mark. Right after pulling the goalie, it allowed them to send three players to the corner to retrieve the puck and keep possession. We can easily see their setup here with two players set up for their one-timer and a goalie presence. Now, if you add rotation to it, it’s harder to defend. Coming up with a switch and one-timer, a good one-timer for a rebound. Sadly, for the opposing team, they can’t cover everyone because they have one less player. The result, CSKA wins in OT.
December 06, 2021
Why not try it for a third time? They hadn’t lost yet and had more chances. This is the CSKA mentality at this point. Playing against Dynamo again, they decide to pull their goalie at the start. Dynamo has their best player out there, and applying a lot of pressure, CSKA chooses to use the full half-zone to move the puck. By doing this, we can notice how Dynamo is all over the place by the end. CSKA took advantage of it when three players tried to block the shot and missed it. They served as a screen instead, resulting in an OT win for CSKA, making them 2-0-1 so far using this strategy.
January 5, 2022
Did you ever hear about CSKA’s strategy of pulling their goalie in overtime? Another game, another overtime, another try. After the first minute, they pulled their goalie and played over 2 minutes 40 seconds without a goalie. It was a “pulling the goalie in overtime” clinic, and Neftekhimik was exhausted, and their only option was to ice the puck. Without any timeout left, it made their life harder. CSKA played with the same setup except for only one one-timer option. They played a bit lower and tried to capitalize on any chance they got. With seven seconds left, they were able to gain another victory. Bringing up their record using this OT strategy to 3-0-1.
January 5, 2022
By now, the whole KHL knows what’s going on in overtime. Vityaz, who are 10th, are trying everything they can to keep their head above the water and still be in the fight for a playoff spot. They went to overtime and decided to go all-in with less than 1:30 in OT. They had one great chance off the faceoff by playing more of a box, but they seemed to be confused more than anything. They were giving credit to Dynamo Minsk. No winner in OT.
December 19, 2021
Now, I am sure that many of you who are reading this article have started to think about it and maybe want to give it a try because everything seems to be positive. Would you do the same thing if fighting for a gold medal? This is exactly what Team Russia wanted to try at the Channel 1 Cup this year against Finland. Same setup with two one-timers. Having full possession, having a lot of switches high in the zone. But a bad shot decision or a blocked shot allows Finland to win on an empty netter for the gold medal…Would you still give it a try?
Final Score: 3-1-2
I will ask you my question again. Less than two minutes to go in overtime. Do you pull your goalie? Yes or no and why?
