Mark Madden's Hot Take: NHL's 3-on-3 overtime has become too tactical, boring

The NHL should change its overtime format. Three-on-three stinks.

Three-on-three OT started out exciting, but coaching ruined it. It used to be played with reckless abandon. Now it’s about endless doubling back with the puck and staying ahead of your foe’s changes. It’s mostly boring. It’s too tactical.

It would be difficult to legislate rules that restore the exhilaration of three-on-three. The 3ICE three-on-three league doesn’t allow retreating with the puck beyond the red line. The penalty is turning over the puck. That would be too radical for the NHL. But a faceoff wouldn’t be suitable punishment and would slow play down.

Three-on-three isn’t the NHL, anyway. It’s too carny, just like the shootout.

The solution? There’s likely isn’t one. How often does the NHL truly solve anything?

But here’s what I’d do:

Go back to four-on-four overtime, which was used from 1999-2015. It produced less winners than three-on-three overtime. But it was less of a parody of hockey. Four-on-four looks like hockey. Three-on-three doesn’t.

Lengthen OT to seven minutes (or even 10) by way of producing more winners.

If the score is tied after overtime, it goes in the standings as a tie. Each team gets a point. Ditch the shootout. A skills competition shouldn’t determine a winner. It’s become passe, anyway.

The loser point would be eliminated in conjunction. You get nothing for losing, even in overtime.

The loser point is the biggest crock of all.

In hockey, inexplicably, the GMs have most of the power. They love the loser point because it keeps the standings tight, keeps rotten teams from looking as bad as they really are and helps lousy GMs keeps their jobs longer.

But the loser point is just dumb.

Some games are worth three points, others two. It unbalances the standings. That’s dumb.

Getting anything for losing is dumb. You lost.

If a score remains tied after regulation and overtime, a tie is a fair result. Fans want winners and losers, sure. But don’t serve that to the point of stupidity.

Also, the Pittsburgh Penguins are 2-7 in three-on-three overtime this season. They are clueless in that situation. Any other format would benefit them, including Power Slap.