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Tuesday, October 12, 1999
Four-on-four is no snore
In the first regular-season experiment for both with the new four-on-four overtime rules, the game picked up an incredible amount of pace before the final siren sounded.
Both teams skated away with a point, but the big winners were the fans who were kept on the edge of their seats as the play moved from end to end.
"I think the fans were really treated to some great plays and some great scoring opportunities," said Senators coach Jacques Martin.
GUARANTEED POINT
The new regulations for the five-minute extra period award two points in the standings to the winning team, but also give one point to the losing side. Under the old rules, the losing side received no points.
Both teams appeared to ignore any sense of game plan during yesterday's overtime and chose to free wheel from one end of the rink to the other.
"The players love it, but the coaches probably don't like it," said Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson. "The way we looked at it, we had the one point, why not go for it?"
Even the players who didn't get on the ice seemed to enjoy the new overtime.
"It was a pleasure to watch," said Ottawa winger Kevin Dineen, playing his 16th NHL season. "It's some pretty good action back and forth. If that's what it's going to be like, I think the league will be pretty happy with the decision they made."
New Jersey's best chances in overtime were ruined by the Ottawa defence. Senators goalie Ron Tugnutt skated out to the blue line to poke the puck away from Devils winger Brian Rolston early in extra time. Later, Janne Laukkanen intercepted a cross-crease pass Bobby Holik was trying to get to Jason Arnott.
Andreas Dackell had a great chance for Ottawa with New Jersey goalie Martin Brodeur down and out, but the puck rolled off his stick in front of the net as he was shooting.
"I should have shot it about one second earlier," said Dackell. "I just held onto the puck, and it just rolled off my stick."
Holik said he liked the excitement of overtime, but he disagrees with some of the rules.
"I don't agree with giving the losing team one point," he said. "When you lose, you lose, and when you win, you should win it all."
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