A standard ice hockey game has three periods in regulation.

Quick Scoop

  • Most professional and competitive ice hockey games (like the NHL) are played in 3 periods.
  • Each period is 20 minutes of stop-time play, for 60 minutes total in regulation.
  • There are two intermissions between periods, usually around 15–18 minutes each.
  • If the game is tied after the third period, overtime (and sometimes a shootout) can be added depending on the league and whether it’s regular season or playoffs.

Mini breakdown

  1. Period 1 – 20 minutes.
  1. Period 2 – 20 minutes.
  1. Period 3 – 20 minutes.

Overtime formats vary (short 3-on-3 in many regular-season leagues; full 20-minute sudden-death periods in playoffs), but those are extra and not part of the standard three-period structure.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.