NHL Points System Explained
NHL standings run on a points system, not a simple win-loss record, which is why a team can lose a game and still gain ground. A team earns 2 points for any win, 1 point for a loss in overtime or a shootout, and 0 points for a loss in regulation — and the team with more points is ranked higher in the standings. The rest of this guide covers why that system works the way it does, and how ties in the standings get broken.
The Points Breakdown
Every NHL game produces exactly 2 points total, split between the two teams one of three ways:
Notice regulation losses are the only result worth 0 points. Every other outcome — win in regulation, win in overtime, win in a shootout, or lose in overtime/shootout — earns at least 1 point. That's the entire system in one table; everything else in this guide explains why it's built that way and how it plays out over a season.
Why the "Loser Point" Exists
The point awarded for an overtime or shootout loss (sometimes called the "loser point" or "OT point") exists to reward a team for forcing extra time instead of losing in regulation. The idea: a team that fought to a tie through 60 minutes played better than a team that lost outright, so it shouldn't be scored identically to a regulation loss.
It's also a competitive-balance tool. Without it, teams trailing late in a close game might play more conservatively to avoid a low-value loss. With a guaranteed point for reaching overtime, there's more incentive to keep pushing rather than settling for a tie-that-isn't-really-a-tie (the NHL eliminated ties outright — every game now has a winner, via overtime or shootout, in the regular season).
This is also why NHL standings can look confusing compared to sports with simple win-loss records — a team's total games played won't split evenly into "wins" and "losses" the way it does in baseball, because overtime losses are a third category that still contributes points.
Points Percentage
Because teams don't all play the exact same number of games at every point in the season (schedules vary slightly, and the season has an odd structure around all-star breaks and byes), the standings also use points percentage — points earned divided by points possible (2 points per game played):
Points % = Total Points ÷ (Games Played × 2)
A team with 50 points in 40 games has a points percentage of .625 (50 ÷ 80). This lets you fairly compare two teams that have played a different number of games — useful mid-season, though by the end of the year every team has played the same number of games and raw point totals are what matter.
Tiebreakers: Regulation Wins and ROW
When two or more teams finish with the same number of points, the NHL uses a series of tiebreakers to rank them. The two most talked-about are:
- Regulation Wins (RW) — the number of games a team won in regulation (not overtime or shootout). This is usually the first tiebreaker applied, because a regulation win reflects a team beating its opponent outright, in regulation, over a full 60 minutes.
- Row (Regulation + Overtime Wins, "ROW") — regulation wins plus overtime wins, excluding shootout wins. This has historically been used as a tiebreaker specifically to de-emphasize shootout success, since a shootout is a skills contest rather than 5-on-5 hockey.
The exact order of tiebreakers (RW, then ROW, then head-to-head record, then goal differential, etc.) has been adjusted by the league across different seasons, so treat "regulation wins matter most" as the durable takeaway rather than memorizing an exact sequence that can change year to year.
Player Points vs. Team Standings Points
This is the single most common point of confusion for anyone new to hockey: "points" means two completely different things depending on whether you're talking about a player or a team.
- Player points = goals + assists. A player with 40 goals and 50 assists has 90 points on the season — a measure of individual offensive production.
- Team standings points = the 2/1/0 system above, based on wins, OT/shootout losses, and regulation losses — a measure of a team's position in the standings.
A team doesn't add up its players' points to get its standings points — the two numbers are unrelated, tracked in entirely separate tables (a scoring leaderboard for players, a standings table for teams), and it's purely coincidental if they ever share a number. When you see "points" in a headline, check whether the story is about a player's stat line or a team's spot in the standings — the word means something different in each context. For a full breakdown of how individual goals and assists are counted during a game, see our guide on how to keep score in hockey.
How Points Determine Playoff Qualification
Standings points are what decide who makes the playoffs. At a high level, the NHL fills its playoff bracket using two kinds of spots:
- Division qualifiers — the top teams in each division, by points, qualify automatically. The exact number of automatic division spots has been 3 in recent playoff formats, though the league has changed playoff qualification structures before and could again.
- Wild-card spots — the next-best remaining teams, by points, across each conference (regardless of division) fill out the rest of the bracket, ranked against each other using points (and the same tiebreakers described above if needed).
The practical result: a team's entire season comes down to accumulating as many standings points as possible, since points (not raw win totals) are what both seed the playoff bracket and determine who gets in. This is exactly why the value of an overtime loss matters so much late in a season — a single point can be the difference between a wild-card spot and missing the playoffs entirely.
Because the exact number of division vs. wild-card spots and the tiebreaker order can shift between seasons, always check the current season's official format rather than assuming last year's structure carries over exactly.
Tracking Points in Your Own League or Pool
If you're running a beer league, fantasy pool, or youth hockey standings and want to mirror the NHL's system (2/1/0 points), you don't need anything hockey-specific to track it — a simple running scoreboard works fine for the score of an individual game. For the standings across a whole season or tournament, a leaderboard maker lets you rank teams by total points without building a spreadsheet formula for every result type.
For the individual games themselves, a free online hockey scoreboard tracks goals, periods, and penalties in real time — pair that with a penalty timer if you also want power-play time visible to both benches. And if you want the mechanics of in-game scoring (goals, assists, shots on goal) rather than the standings system, see how to keep score in hockey.
NHL Points System FAQ
How many points do you get for winning in the NHL?
2 points, regardless of whether the win comes in regulation, overtime, or a shootout. There's no bonus for winning "more decisively" — a 1-0 regulation win and a 6-0 regulation win both earn 2 points.
What is a point in hockey standings?
A standings point is a unit teams earn per game based on the result: 2 points for any win, 1 point for a loss in overtime or a shootout, and 0 points for a loss in regulation. It's different from a player's "points" stat, which is goals plus assists.
Why do teams get a point for losing in overtime?
The point rewards a team for forcing extra time rather than losing outright in regulation. It also discourages teams from playing overly conservative "protect the tie" hockey late in games, since reaching overtime guarantees at least 1 point either way.
What is a regulation win in the NHL standings?
A regulation win (RW) is a win that happened within the standard three periods, without needing overtime or a shootout. It's used as a key tiebreaker between teams with equal standings points, since it reflects a win in full 5-on-5 (or standard-strength) play.
How do NHL standings decide playoff spots?
Teams are ranked by standings points within their division and conference. The top teams in each division qualify automatically, and the next-best remaining teams by points fill the wild-card spots across the conference. Ties in points are broken using regulation wins, then other tiebreakers like ROW and head-to-head record.
Are player points the same as team points?
No. Player points are an individual stat (goals plus assists). Team points are a standings stat based on win/loss results (2 for a win, 1 for an OT or shootout loss, 0 for a regulation loss). They're tracked in completely separate tables and aren't related.
Related Reading
For the game-level mechanics behind those standings points, see how to keep score in hockey — goals, assists, shots on goal, and overtime rules.
Running your own league's games? A free online hockey scoreboard and penalty timer handle the in-game tracking, and a leaderboard maker handles the season standings.