After another frustrating overtime loss, Devin Cooley is calling on the NHL to address a growing issue in 3-on-3 play.
Devin Cooley has seen enough of how NHL overtime is being played—and he’s not the only one.
The Calgary Flames goaltender, in the midst of a breakout rookie season, is now adding his voice to a growing conversation around the league: 3-on-3 overtime isn’t as exciting as it used to be—and it might need fixing.
At 28 years old, Cooley has quietly put together an impressive campaign. Through 27 appearances, he owns a 2.51 goals against average and a .915 save percentage, along with a 9-9-5 record—numbers that have made him a reliable presence in Calgary’s crease.
On Thursday night, Cooley added another strong outing to that body of work, stopping 30 of 33 shots. Still, it wasn’t enough, as the Flames fell 3-2 in overtime to the Anaheim Ducks. The loss came in heartbreaking fashion, with Mikael Granlund completing his hat trick with just one second remaining.
A Growing Frustration With 3-on-3
The result may have been frustrating, but it also sparked a bigger-picture idea from Cooley about how overtime could be improved.
“I think they should make the rule where you should not be able to go back over the red line just to force it a little bit,” Cooley said. “I think that’d be more entertaining.”
His suggestion zeroes in on a tactic that has become increasingly common in 3-on-3 play—teams retreating into the neutral zone to reset rather than attack. While it helps maintain possession, it often drains the pace and spontaneity that once defined overtime.
As he thought through the implications, Cooley also acknowledged how a more aggressive format might impact goaltenders.
“I don’t think it’d be good for goalies. Probably be bad for my stats, so maybe they should have a separate category for overtime stats. I think that would be better.”
It’s a candid and self-aware perspective from a goaltender who understands both sides of the equation—entertainment versus execution.
Calls to limit neutral-zone regrouping have been building in recent years as teams lean more into possession-based strategies. While the NHL has yet to make a change, players like Cooley speaking openly about it only add momentum to the idea.
Whether anything materializes remains to be seen. But if the league is serious about restoring the chaos and excitement that once defined 3-on-3 overtime, proposals like Cooley’s are becoming harder to ignore.
The Hockey News has already written about this issue as well? Is it time to change the format?
