Mario Lemieux, Maurice Richard Among Players To Score Five Goals in a Playoff Game

Published on May 21st, 2024 2:09 pm EST
Written By: Dave Manuel


Over the 100+ year history of the NHL, five players have managed to score five goals in a single playoff game.

The first player to ever accomplish this feat was Newsy Lalonde, who scored five goals against the Ottawa Senators on March 1st, 1919. This was an especially impressive feat, as it came during the Stanley Cup Finals between the Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators.

It would be 25 years before this feat was accomplished again, as Maurice Richard would score five goals in a playoff game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on March 23rd, 1944.

Incredibly, two players - Darryl Sittler and Reggie Leach - would score five goals in a game during a single playoff year.

Sittler accomplished the feat on April 22nd, 1976, when he scored five goals against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Just a few weeks later, Reggie Leach of the Philadelphia Flyers would score five goals in a series against the Boston Bruins.

Having a player score five goals in a playoff game is hard enough - to have it happen twice in the same year is nearly impossible.

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In 1989, Mario Lemieux would become the fifth player to score five goals in a single playoff game, as he accomplished the task against the Philadelphia Flyers on April 25th, 1989.

Lemieux also added three assists, to post a total of eight points in a single playoff game.

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A wide assortment of players - including Wayne Gretzky, Ted Lindsay and Phil Esposito - have scored four goals in a single playoff game.

A number of active players - including Leon Draisaitl and Jake Guentzel - have accomplished this task.

Given the level of talent that now exists in the NHL, you have to figure that it is just a matter of time before somebody like McDavid or Matthews pulls off five goals in a single playoff game.