In the NHL, it doesn’t matter if the rules are dumb. All that matters is that they’re enforced consistently.At least, that’s what I always hear from fans. It’s a near-constant refrain, one that comes up especially often at this time of year. There’s a call, or a non-call, or a referee blinks somewhere and fans are furious about it. But not because the break went against their team, you understand. These fans aren’t raving homers who want every break to go their team’s way. They just want consistency.Fair enough. Today, we’re going to take that idea to the extreme by figuring out how history would change if the NHL took the single dumbest rule that it has and actually enforced it during the playoffs.That dumb rule is, of course, the dreaded loser point. (Or bonus point, if you’re one of those people.) Since 1999, the NHL has given teams a point when they lose in overtime. It’s dumb, it always has been, the hockey gods hate it and we could fix it but we shouldn’t. On this, all smart fans agree.But the bigger issue here, apparently, is consistency. The NHL rewards teams for losing in overtime during the regular season, but then abandons the approach during the playoffs. That doesn’t make sense. After all, the league constantly tells us that the loser point is important because it makes the playoff races closer. Well, the only thing better than a close playoff race is a close playoff series. So let’s start sprinkling loser points around the postseason and see what happens.Of course, we don’t really have “points” in the playoffs, but that’s an easy issue to fix. Instead of a loser point, we can give teams that lose in overtime a half-win. That’s basically the same thing. And most importantly of all, we’ll finally have some of that wonderful consistency we all crave so much.Yes, we’re retroactively changing playoff results, again. Did I mention this is going to get dumb? It’s going to get dumb. But you’ve made it this far, so let’s all lose a few IQ points together. Here are five playoff series where the result changes with a little dose of loser point consistency.Ducks vs. Red Wings, 2013The series: This opening-round matchup was the sixth playoff meeting between the two teams, though this time with the twist that the Ducks were the heavy favorites.The real result: The Ducks looked strong in winning Games 1, 3 and 5 in regulation, while the Red Wings continually evened the series with wins in Games 2, 4 and 6, all of which came in overtime. The Red Wings then finished the upset with a Game 7 win.BUT WAIT: Now that they’re getting a half-win for those OT losses, everything changes. Thanks to already having wins in Games 1 and 3 and half-wins in Games 2 and 4, the Ducks actually hit the magic four-win mark with their Game 5 victory. Enjoy a few days off, boys, it’s your reward for finishing your opponents off quickly.The new result: Ducks in five, just like we all predicted.How history changes: We lose a classic second-round battle between the Red Wings and Blackhawks. The 17th — and barring a Stanley Cup Final meeting, almost certainly last — meeting between the Original Six rivals went seven games, with the Blackhawks winning Game 7 in OT on Brent Seabrook’s winner to take the series four games to three. Er, four games to three-and-a-half.From the Ducks’ side, this was the first of what would turn out to be four straight years under Bruce Boudreau in which a strong regular season was followed by a Game 7 loss in the playoffs. Eventually, that led to Boudreau being fired, and saddled with the reputation he never really shook as a coach who couldn’t win the big one. You wonder how the narrative changes if the story starts with a nice five-game win rather than a heartbreaking loss in a Game 7 they never even should have played, according to loser-point fans.Blues vs. North Stars, 1968The series: This matchup came in the semifinals of the 1968 playoffs, which were the first played after the 1967 expansion. Both teams had won their first-round series and were facing each other for the right to get their teeth kicked down their throats in the final, thanks to the NHL’s weird playoff format that guaranteed an expansion team would face an established powerhouse with the Cup on the line.The real result: The Blues won the opener on home ice before dropping Game 2 in OT. The North Stars romped to a blowout win in Game 3, but the Blues took control of the series with OT wins in both Games 4 and 5. Minnesota won Game 6 to force a winner-take-all showdown, which the Blues won on Ron Schock’s double-OT winner.BUT WAIT: The North Stars won the second and third games, then earned a half-win in each of the fourth and fifth games. That means they were already at three wins heading into Game 6, which they won. That was their fourth win, meaning they took the series.