Five on three

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Five on three (also called a two-man advantage) is a term used in ice hockey when one team has had two players sent to the penalty box. This leaves the opponent with five skaters (i.e., not including the goaltender) to penalized team's three. The team with the advantage has a very good chance of scoring during these periods.

The team with the three players — nicknamed the iron three — usually forms a triangle in their zone with two defenders back near the goalie and one forward who goes around the slot and the points. They try to get their sticks and bodies into passing and shooting lanes and try to gain control of the pucks so they can shoot it down the ice and kill time off the power play and so they can go to bench and have teammates go onto the ice to fill in for them.

A common way to combat the triangle is to get one of the five players inside it. If they can get inside and get the player the puck, the three man squad is put in a precarious position. The five mainly try to cycle the puck around amongst each other trying to draw one of the penalty killers to follow them or get him out position so they can gain a good shot on net or set up a one timer.