With the 2024 NHL season well underway, we have seen drama left, right and centre. However, one question that fans of the sport may be wondering is – what is the longest NHL game of all time?
Last year one of the longest games in NHL history happened in the 2023 Eastern Conference Final (game 1) where the Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers needed four full overtimes to be separated.
Florida eventually won the contest with 13 seconds remaining of the 4th when Matthew Tkachuk struck the game-winning shot, with 139 minutes and 47 seconds on the clock.
The play-offs are fast approaching over the coming months, so check out the longest NHL game of all time which beats Game 1 in last year’s Eastern Conference Final.
Note: Overtime periods periods are 20 minutes long in play-offs (five minutes in regular season).
Longest NHL Game: Record Not Beaten In Over 90 Years
The longest NHL game in history dates all the way back to 1936 when the Detroit Red Wings travelled to Montreal Maroons, and the game lasted 176 minutes and 30 seconds.
It was Game 1 of the National Semi-Finals (before conferences came into play) and Detroit forward Mud Bruneteau scored the decisive goal after 16:30 in the sixth overtime period. This game-winning goal game the Red Wings a 1-0 series lead, in which they eventually swept the Maroons on their way to winning the Stanley Cup.
Next Four Longest NHL Games Ranked
1933 – Boston Bruins @ Toronto Maple Leafs – 164:46
Another one in a blast from the past is when the Bruins and Maple Leafs went into six overtime periods in Game 5 of the 1933 National Semi-Finals.
Toronto winger Ken Doraty sent his team to the finals after scoring 4:46 into the sixth to secure a 1-0 win. They eventually went on to win 3-2 but lost in the National Final.
2000 – Philadelphia Flyers @ Pittsburgh Penguins – 152:01
The next three in this list all came in the post-2000 era. Flyers forward Keith Primeau found the winning goal to secure a 2-1 victory.
This win levelled the series at 2-a-piece and the winners of this marathon game eventually won the next two contests to reach the Eastern Conference Final where they lost.
2020 – Columbus Blue Jackets @ Tampa Bay Lightening – 150:27
Another one in this longest NHL game list is a recent affair between the Blue Jackets and Lightening. It was Game 1 in the first round of the East when Lightening forward Brayden Point scored the winner in the fifth overtime period.
Tampa Bay went on to win the Stanley Cup that year but they can thank Point’s deflected effort which kept their dreams alive.
2003 – Mighty Ducks of Anaheim @ Dallas Stars – 140:48
Finally, in Game 1 of the Western Conference Semi-Finals in 2003, a close contest between the Ducks and the Stars ended 3-3 at the end of regular time. This forced five periods of overtime in which Ducks winger Petr Sykora won it with a late strike.
Anaheim made it all the way to the National Final but were defeated in agonizing circumstances.
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