from Frank Seravalli of TSN,

Commissioner Gary Bettman relayed Campbell's notes to the media: of the 44 preseason games sent to overtime with a tied score, 33 games (75 per cent) produced a goal via 3-on-3 play. Bettman said the average was "pretty much what we expected." Detroit GM Ken Holland said in June the league targeted a 70 per cent success rate as a benchmark.

More interesting was the average time it took to produce a goal: 2:49.

Even though 3-on-3 was implemented with the idea of ending more games, was there any concern amongst the governors that they were ending too fast?

"Not at all," Bettman said. "I think people are pleased with the early returns. But we'll see how it unfolds in the regular season and what coaching strategies are employed to effectuate or deal with it, depending on how you want to play it."

So far, strategies and player deployment have been all over the map. Teams have used three forwards, two defencemen and one forward, and two forwards and one defencemen all in the same five-minute overtime.

We even saw the first penalty shot goal produced by 3-on-3, with the Rangers' Keith Yandle beating Philadelphia's Steve Mason on Monday night at Madison Square Garden.

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