Understanding the conclusion time of a hockey game starting at 8 PM is essential for fans and attendees. Explore various factors affecting game duration to anticipate typical end times and plan your evening accordingly.
If a hockey game starts at 8 what time will it end?
If an NHL hockey game starts at 8, it will end at 10:37 PM. This is based on the average length of NHL games – 2 hours and 29 minutes – as well as the average 8-minute delay across all games in 2023
Outside of the NHL, it is not possible to determine how long a hockey game will be. Different leagues use different period lengths and schemas. However, mostly all hockey games will be shorter than the NHL average.
If A Hockey Game Starts At 8 What Time Will It End?
If a hockey game starts at 8, it will end at around 10:37 PM.
The average NHL game length in 2023 was 2 hours and 29 minutes long, from start to finish – or puck drop to final whistle. Of course, the lengths of games can vary. The shortest regular season game in 2023 was 2 hours and 10 minutes long while the longest game was 3 hours and 2 minutes long.
In general, NHL games are two to three hours long, with the average being two and a half hours.
In addition to the actual length of the game, NHL games also feature a delay in starting times, the most common being an 8-minute delay. So, if a game starts at 8, it will actually start at 8:08.
A majority of the delay can be attributed to the singing of the national anthem – customary for all NHL games. This is why an 8 o’clock game is likely to start 8 minutes late and end at 10:37 PM, not 10:29 PM.
Playoff Games Can Go Longer
The average length of playoff games is 2 hours and 44 minutes, fifteen minutes longer than regular season games.
Playoff games are longer because there is no limit on the number of overtimes that can be played. in regular season games, teams will play 1 overtime and then proceed to a shootout, where the game is decided relatively quickly. In playoffs, however, teams will play the first overtime, the second, the third, and so on until one team scores.
In the graph above, you will notice one, blue data point way off to the right – to the right of the 5.5-hour mark.
That data point is the famed game played between the Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers in the 2023 playoffs. The game started at 8:10 PM and ended at 1:54 AM, a total of 5 hours and 44 minutes.
The game went to quadruple overtime (4OT) and was 12 seconds away from going to 5 OT before Matthew Tkachuk scored the game-winning goal.
How Many Minutes Is Ice Hockey Overtime?
Overtime in the NHL is 5 minutes long in the regular season and 20 minutes long for playoffs. Additionally, regular season overtime features a 3-on-3 play, while playoffs maintains a 5-on-5 game.
In real-time, games that go to overtime run roughly 6 minutes longer than normal games. So, if you’re watching a regular season game that proceeds to overtime, expect it to last another 6 minutes, on average.
If a game goes to overtime, there is also a 32% chance that it will proceed to a shootout. Games that go to a shootout last another 6 minutes on average.
There were a total of 95 games in 2023 that ended in a shootout, representing 7.2% of all games in the NHL.
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