List of players with five or more goals in an NHL game facts for kids

Joe Malone, the first player to score five goals in an NHL game, the only player to score seven goals in a game, and the overall most prolific, scoring at least five goals in five games.

Tage Thompson, the most recent player to score five goals in an NHL game, did it on December 7, 2022.

This is a list of players who have scored five or more goals in a National Hockey League (NHL) game. Scoring five or more goals in a single game is considered a great feat, as it has only been accomplished 64 times, by 48 players, in the history of the league. The first player to do so was Joe Malone, with the Montreal Canadiens, in the first NHL game, on December 19, 1917. The most recent player to do so was Tage Thompson, with the Buffalo Sabres, in the 105th NHL season of play, on December 7, 2022.

In addition to being first, Joe Malone holds the overall record with five five-or-more goal games, including the NHL record seven goals in a game, as well as a six-goal game and three five-goal games – all in the first three seasons of the NHL’s existence. He is also the only player to record a five-goal game with more than one team, accomplishing his first three with the Montreal Canadiens and his last two with the Quebec Bulldogs.

Overall, seven players have scored six goals in a game—including brothers Corb and Cy Denneny, with different teams, within a few weeks of each other in 1921. A total of 41 individual players have scored exactly five goals in a game, on one or more occasion. While five-goal games continue to occur from time to time, no player has scored six or more goals since Darryl Sittler scored six in February 1976.

Only eight players have multiple five-goal games. After Malone achieving the mark five times, both Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux attained the mark four times, Newsy Lalonde did it three times, while four other players have had two five-goal games. Of the eight players with multiple five-goal games, only two have achieved the feat multiple times in a single season: Malone (3 times in 1917–18, twice in 1919–20) and Sittler (twice in 1975–76). Gretzky (early and late 1981) and Maurice Richard (early and late 1944) had two five-goal games in the same calendar year, across two NHL seasons.

Ian Turnbull is the only defenseman who has scored five goals in a game, doing so in February 1977. Mario Lemieux is the only player in history to achieve a five-goal game by scoring in five different ways – on December 31, 1988, he scored an even-strength goal, a power-play goal, a short-handed goal, a penalty shot goal and an empty net goal against the New Jersey Devils. Wayne Gretzky’s second five-goal game, in December 1981, also marked his achievement of the NHL’s fastest 50 goals in 50 games, when he scored five goals in his 39th game of the season.

Of the 63 five-goal games, five were playoff games.

The Montreal Canadiens have had the highest number of players, 9, and the highest number of occurrences, 14, of a five-goal game. The Toronto St. Patricks/Toronto Maple Leafs are second in both categories, with 7 players scoring a five-goal game, on 9 occasions. Five players: Newsy Lalonde in 1919, Maurice Richard in 1944, Darryl Sittler and Reggie Leach in 1976, and Mario Lemieux in 1989 scored 5 goals in playoff games.

Alexey Zhamnov is the only player from this list whose team eventually failed to win — the Los Angeles Kings and the Winnipeg Jets tied 7–7. Sergei Fedorov is the only player to score all 5 of his team's goals in a game that ended in overtime (regular season). Maurice Richard scored all 5 goals when the Canadiens defeated Toronto 5-1 in the 1944 playoffs.

Scorers

Newsy Lalonde, the first player to score six goals in an NHL game, also had two other five-goal games.

Wayne Gretzky, the NHL's all-time leading scorer, had four five-goal games.

Mario Lemieux recorded four five-goal games.

Sergei Fedorov scored all of the Red Wings' goals in a 5-4 overtime win against the Washington Capitals.

Marian Gaborik, after scoring his fifth goal on December 20, 2007 – first in the 21st century

Legend

     Player is still active in the NHL      Player scored five goals in a playoff game

Name	Team	Date	Goals
Malone, JoeJoe Malone	Montreal Canadiens	December 19, 1917	5
Hyland, HarryHarry Hyland	Montreal Wanderers	December 19, 1917	5
Malone, JoeJoe Malone	Montreal Canadiens	January 12, 1918	5
Malone, JoeJoe Malone	Montreal Canadiens	February 2, 1918	5
Lalonde, NewsyNewsy Lalonde	Montreal Canadiens	March 1, 1919	5
Lalonde, NewsyNewsy Lalonde	Montreal Canadiens	January 10, 1920	6
Malone, JoeJoe Malone	Quebec Bulldogs	January 31, 1920	7
Roach, MickeyMickey Roach	Toronto St. Pats	March 6, 1920	5
Malone, JoeJoe Malone	Quebec Bulldogs	March 10, 1920	6
Denneny, CorbCorb Denneny	Toronto St. Pats	January 26, 1921	6
Lalonde, NewsyNewsy Lalonde	Montreal Canadiens	February 16, 1921	5
Denneny, CyCy Denneny	Ottawa Senators	March 7, 1921	6
Dye, BabeBabe Dye	Toronto St. Pats	December 16, 1922	5
Green, RedRed Green	Hamilton Tigers	December 5, 1924	5
Dye, BabeBabe Dye	Toronto St. Pats	December 22, 1924	5
Broadbent, PunchPunch Broadbent	Montreal Maroons	January 7, 1925	5
Lepine, PitPit Lepine	Montreal Canadiens	December 14, 1929	5
Morenz, HowieHowie Morenz	Montreal Canadiens	March 18, 1930	5
Conacher, CharlieCharlie Conacher	Toronto Maple Leafs	January 19, 1932	5
Getliffe, RayRay Getliffe	Montreal Canadiens	February 6, 1943	5
Howe, SydSyd Howe	Detroit Red Wings	February 3, 1944	6
Richard, MauriceMaurice Richard	Montreal Canadiens	March 23, 1944	5
Richard, MauriceMaurice Richard	Montreal Canadiens	December 28, 1944	5
Meeker, HowieHowie Meeker	Toronto Maple Leafs	January 8, 1947	5
Geoffrion, BernieBernie Geoffrion	Montreal Canadiens	February 19, 1955	5
Rousseau, BobbyBobby Rousseau	Montreal Canadiens	February 1, 1964	5
Berenson, RedRed Berenson	St. Louis Blues	November 7, 1968	6
Cournoyer, YvanYvan Cournoyer	Montreal Canadiens	February 15, 1975	5
Sittler, DarrylDarryl Sittler	Toronto Maple Leafs	February 7, 1976	6
Sittler, DarrylDarryl Sittler	Toronto Maple Leafs	April 22, 1976	5
Leach, ReggieReggie Leach	Philadelphia Flyers	May 6, 1976	5
Murdoch, DonDon Murdoch	New York Rangers	October 12, 1976	5
Turnbull, IanIan Turnbull (D)	Toronto Maple Leafs	February 2, 1977	5
Trottier, BryanBryan Trottier	New York Islanders	December 23, 1978	5
Young, TimTim Young	Minnesota North Stars	January 15, 1979	5
Tonelli, JohnJohn Tonelli	New York Islanders	January 6, 1981	5
Gretzky, WayneWayne Gretzky	Edmonton Oilers	February 18, 1981	5
Gretzky, WayneWayne Gretzky	Edmonton Oilers	December 30, 1981	5
Mulvey, GrantGrant Mulvey	Chicago Black Hawks	February 3, 1982	5
Trottier, BryanBryan Trottier	New York Islanders	February 13, 1982	5
Lindstrom, WillyWilly Lindstrom	Winnipeg Jets	March 2, 1982	5
Pavelich, MarkMark Pavelich	New York Rangers	February 23, 1983	5
Kurri, JariJari Kurri	Edmonton Oilers	November 19, 1983	5
Gustafsson, Bengt-AkeBengt-Ake Gustafsson	Washington Capitals	January 8, 1984	5
Hughes, PatPat Hughes	Edmonton Oilers	February 3, 1984	5
Gretzky, WayneWayne Gretzky	Edmonton Oilers	December 15, 1984	5
Andreychuk, DaveDave Andreychuk	Buffalo Sabres	February 6, 1986	5
Gretzky, WayneWayne Gretzky	Edmonton Oilers	December 6, 1987	5
Lemieux, MarioMario Lemieux	Pittsburgh Penguins	December 31, 1988	5
Nieuwendyk, JoeJoe Nieuwendyk	Calgary Flames	January 11, 1989	5
Lemieux, MarioMario Lemieux	Pittsburgh Penguins	April 25, 1989	5
Sundin, MatsMats Sundin	Quebec Nordiques	March 5, 1992	5
Lemieux, MarioMario Lemieux	Pittsburgh Penguins	April 9, 1993	5
Bondra, PeterPeter Bondra	Washington Capitals	February 5, 1994	5
Ricci, MikeMike Ricci	Quebec Nordiques	February 17, 1994	5
Zhamnov, AlexeiAlexei Zhamnov	Winnipeg Jets	April 1, 1995	5
Lemieux, MarioMario Lemieux	Pittsburgh Penguins	March 26, 1996	5
Fedorov, SergeiSergei Fedorov	Detroit Red Wings	December 26, 1996	5
Gaborik, MarianMarian Gaborik	Minnesota Wild	December 20, 2007	5
Franzen, JohanJohan Franzen	Detroit Red Wings	February 2, 2011	5
Laine, PatrikPatrik Laine	Winnipeg Jets	November 24, 2018	5
Zibanejad, MikaMika Zibanejad	New York Rangers	March 5, 2020	5
Meier, TimoTimo Meier	San Jose Sharks	January 17, 2022	5
Thompson, TageTage Thompson	Buffalo Sabres	December 7, 2022	5

Players who scored five or more goals in multiple games

Name	Nationality	Total
Malone, JoeJoe Malone	Canada	5
Gretzky, WayneWayne Gretzky	Canada	4
Lemieux, MarioMario Lemieux	Canada	4
Lalonde, NewsyNewsy Lalonde	Canada	3
Dye, BabeBabe Dye	Canada	2
Richard, MauriceMaurice Richard	Canada	2
Sittler, DarrylDarryl Sittler	Canada	2
Trottier, BryanBryan Trottier	Canada	2