[jp57]

Part of the reason for so many overtimes is the ridiculous point system for overtime games: For a game that ends in regulation, one team gets 2 points and the other gets 0. For game that goes to overtime each team gets at least 1 point, and the winner gets two. This situation reduces the incentive to play aggressively and take chances to win when a game is tied late in the 3rd period.

For comparison, before the addition of shootouts to resolve games still tied after overtime, each game was worth exactly two points: both went to the winner, or they were split in the case of a tie.

Now there is the weird situation that teams are not competing for a fixed number of standings points. Instead rather a new point gets created whenever a game goes to overtime. This makes a huge incentive not to try to break ties in regulation.

[flurdy]

That is why football/soccer introduced 3 points for a win to combat the 1980s trend of playing for a draw. Made enough of a difference.