The NHL loves the parity in the league, but too much of it can make a parody of the standings.
There has been a rash of games going beyond the allotted 60 minutes of regulation early in the 2025-26 season. It’s a symptom a significant league-wide trend — there is a lot of parity, even if this version of the Colorado Avalanche exists.
Nine teams have already played in double-digit games that went to overtime. Twenty — yes, that’s 20, out of 32 — teams have already played 3-on-3 hockey eight times, which is at least 25% of the games they’ve played.