The longest NHL games of all-time: Where does Matthew Tkachuk’s winner rank?

Credit: Radko Gudas and Matthew Tkachuk (© James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports)

The feeling when Matthew Tkachuk scored with 13 seconds remaining in the fourth overtime period during the Florida Panthers’ Game 1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes: a bit of Stockholm Syndrome, perhaps, “thanking” our captor for mercifully ending the seven-period marathon before an eighth emerged on the horizon.

Thursday’s Eastern Conference Final opener was one for the ages, with Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky putting on a clinic and the PNC Arena announcer proclaiming, “I’m so sorry” as the third overtime came to a close.

With the fog lifting after the winning goal, we learned that Carolina and Florida just completed the sixth-longest game in NHL history. Almost five overtimes and only the sixth longest? How did the five longer games unfold?

Here’s a snapshot of the six longest NHL games of all-time and how they ended.

6. May 18, 2023: Panthers over Hurricanes, Game 1 Eastern Conference Final, 79:47 of OT

With 13 seconds remaining in the fourth OT, Tkachuk receives a feed from Sam Bennett and cuts to the slot for what qualifies as a high-quality chance this late in the game and rips a wrist shot through Frederik Andersen.

5. April 24, 2003: Ducks over Stars, Game 1 Western Conference semifinal, 80:48 of OT

During a justifiably sleepy start to the fifth overtime, all-time great playmaker Adam Oates fires a one-touch backhand pass from behind the net into the slot, and Petr Sykora makes no mistake to complete “the game that would not end.”

4. Aug. 11 2020: Lightning over Blue Jackets, Game 1 Eastern Conference first round, 90:27 of OT

The Jackets’ Joonas Korpisalo sets an NHL record for saves in a game with 85, but it’s not enough for a win, as Point corrals a loose puck and fires a flatfooted shot from the top of the circle. You just get it on the net in overtime and things happen.

3. May 4, 2000: Flyers over Penguins, Game 4 Eastern Conference semifinal, 92:01 of OT

The big man ends it in the fifth overtime. Hulking Flyers center Keith Primeau makes a power move to get inside Pens defenseman Darius Kasparaitis and scores a goal that, by five-OT standards, is downright pretty.

2. April 3, 1933: Maple Leafs over Bruins, Game 5 NHL semifinal, 104:46 of OT

The game goes so long that, after the fourth overtime, Leafs GM Conn Smythe and Bruins GM Art Ross attempt to decided it with a coin toss before the players overrule them, demanding the game be finished honestly. Diminutive Ken Doraty finally wins it in the sixth overtime, sending the Maple Leaf Gardens crowd into feverish pandemonium.

1. March 24, 1936: Red Wings over Maroons, Game 1 NHL semifinal, 116:30 of OT

Three and a half minutes from becoming a seven-overtime game, this one ends at 16:30 of the sixth extra frame when Mud Bruneteau, a 21-year-old rookie, intercepts a Hec Kilrea pass and beats Lorne Chabot. How long was this game? Though the stats aren’t kept officially, Wings goalie Norm Smith is estimated to have stopped 90-plus shots and loses 12 pounds between the start and finish of the game. Fun fact: Chabot also played in the 1933 six-overtime game (on the winning Toronto side), so he was a goalie of record in each of the longest games ever.

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