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, and the only player to score seven goals in a game.

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

This article lists the amazing hockey players who have scored five or more goals in a single National Hockey League (NHL) game. Scoring five or more goals in one game is a very rare and special achievement. It has only happened 64 times in the entire history of the league, with 48 different players achieving this feat.

The very first player to score five goals in an NHL game was Joe Malone. He did this for the Montreal Canadiens on December 19, 1917, during the first-ever NHL game. More recently, Tage Thompson of the Buffalo Sabres scored five goals on December 7, 2022, in the 105th NHL season.

Joe Malone holds the record for the most five-goal games, with five in total! This includes the NHL record of seven goals in one game, plus a six-goal game and three five-goal games. All of these incredible performances happened in the NHL's first three seasons. Malone is also the only player to score five goals for more than one team. He did it three times with the Montreal Canadiens and twice with the Quebec Bulldogs.

Seven different players have scored six goals in a single game. This even includes brothers Corb and Cy Denneny, who each scored six goals for different teams within weeks of each other in 1921. While players still score five goals from time to time, no one has scored six or more goals since Darryl Sittler did it in February 1976.

Only eight players have scored five or more goals in multiple games. After Joe Malone's five times, both Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux each did it four times. Newsy Lalonde achieved it three times, and four other players did it twice. Malone and Sittler are the only players to score five goals multiple times in a single season. Gretzky and Maurice Richard also had two five-goal games in the same calendar year, but across two different NHL seasons.

Ian Turnbull is the only defenseman (a player who usually focuses on defense) to score five goals in a game. He did this in February 1977. Mario Lemieux is the only player in history to score five goals in five different ways in one game! 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, was also special because it marked his achievement of the NHL's fastest 50 goals in 50 games, reaching 50 goals in just his 39th game of the season.

Out of all the five-goal games, five of them happened during playoff games. The Montreal Canadiens have had the most players (9) and the most total five-goal games (14) in their history. The Toronto St. Patricks/Toronto Maple Leafs are second, with 7 players scoring five goals on 9 occasions.

Five players have scored 5 goals in playoff games: Newsy Lalonde in 1919, Maurice Richard in 1944, Darryl Sittler and Reggie Leach in 1976, and Mario Lemieux in 1989.

Alexei Zhamnov is the only player on this list whose team did not win the game; his team, the Winnipeg Jets, tied 7–7 with the Los Angeles Kings. Sergei Fedorov is the only player to score all five of his team's goals in a game that went into overtime in the regular season. Maurice Richard scored all five goals when the Canadiens beat 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 – the 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