Special teams

When the opponent takes a penalty you play with five skaters against four (or three) for up to two minutes, or until you score. A team has two power-play units that take turns, the first playing more.

With the extra skater the puck moves around the zone until a shooting lane opens. That rewards players who can pass, read the play and shoot: “Passing”, “Hockey sense”, “Shooting” and “Puck control” matter more here than anywhere else. Winning the faceoff keeps the puck in the zone from the start.

Short-handed you defend four against five, with two units taking turns. You spend most of the time without the puck, so “Defense” and “Hockey sense” carry the most weight: being in the right lane, blocking shots and taking the puck away. “Skating” helps to close down shooters and to chase a cleared puck.

A won faceoff in your own zone often means a clearance and a few seconds of rest.

A tied league game goes to 5 minutes of sudden-death overtime, three skaters against three. If nobody scores, a shootout decides it.

In the playoffs, the relegation playoffs and the cup there is no shootout: full 20-minute periods of five against five are played until somebody scores.

A team that trails late in a game can pull its goalie for an extra skater. Six against five raises the chance to tie, and the chance to give up an empty-net goal just as much.

Three shooters from each team take turns against the goalie. If it is still tied after three, it goes on shooter for shooter until one scores and the other doesn't; then shooters may come back. A shootout win counts as one goal in the standings.

A shooter's “Shooting” and “Puck control” matter, and so does the goalie: “Reflexes”, “Positioning” and the three save groups decide most attempts.

For now the game picks your power-play, penalty-kill, overtime and empty-net units, the shootout order and the captains. When your squad changes, so do they.