At a time when NHL scoring in general is down and the scoring championship may go to a player with less than 100 points, getting more goals in OT is very much needed. People don’t seem to find it as gimmicky as the shootout, and it offers the most skilled players in the sport more opportunities to show off those skills.

Who doesn’t want to see more of Pavel Datsyuk, Sidney Crosby, Steven Stamkos, John Tavares, Ryan Getzlaf, Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko? Seeing them unshackled at least for some of the time by enemy shadows and checkers is appealing.

For me, I once loved the idea of the shootout. Now, I’ve just seen too many. Unless they turn into marathon sessions, they offer no compelling narrative. We just keep count and declare a winner. An overtime goal, on the other hand, is the product of a play, or a blown save, or a perfect shot, or a timely hit. Three-on-three will still produce breakaways, but ones where the potential scorer has an opponent in hot pursuit.

Now, what the union has to say about all of this will be interesting. This relationship is still adversarial by nature, and when the union is asked to give something, it usually, and understandably, looks for something in return.

-Sportsnet's Damien Cox on 3-on-3 in OT. Read more on today's general managers meeting.