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

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
- Legend
Player is still active in the NHL Player scored five goals in a playoff game
Name | Team | Date | Goals |
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Montreal Canadiens | December 19, 1917 | 5 |
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Montreal Wanderers | December 19, 1917 | 5 |
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Montreal Canadiens | January 12, 1918 | 5 |
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Montreal Canadiens | February 2, 1918 | 5 |
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Montreal Canadiens | March 1, 1919 | 5 |
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Montreal Canadiens | January 10, 1920 | 6 |
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Quebec Bulldogs | January 31, 1920 | 7 |
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Toronto St. Pats | March 6, 1920 | 5 |
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Quebec Bulldogs | March 10, 1920 | 6 |
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Toronto St. Pats | January 26, 1921 | 6 |
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Montreal Canadiens | February 16, 1921 | 5 |
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Ottawa Senators | March 7, 1921 | 6 |
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Toronto St. Pats | December 16, 1922 | 5 |
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Hamilton Tigers | December 5, 1924 | 5 |
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Toronto St. Pats | December 22, 1924 | 5 |
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Montreal Maroons | January 7, 1925 | 5 |
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Montreal Canadiens | December 14, 1929 | 5 |
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Montreal Canadiens | March 18, 1930 | 5 |
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Toronto Maple Leafs | January 19, 1932 | 5 |
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Montreal Canadiens | February 6, 1943 | 5 |
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Detroit Red Wings | February 3, 1944 | 6 |
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Montreal Canadiens | March 23, 1944 | 5 |
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Montreal Canadiens | December 28, 1944 | 5 |
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Toronto Maple Leafs | January 8, 1947 | 5 |
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Montreal Canadiens | February 19, 1955 | 5 |
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Montreal Canadiens | February 1, 1964 | 5 |
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St. Louis Blues | November 7, 1968 | 6 |
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Montreal Canadiens | February 15, 1975 | 5 |
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Toronto Maple Leafs | February 7, 1976 | 6 |
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Toronto Maple Leafs | April 22, 1976 | 5 |
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Philadelphia Flyers | May 6, 1976 | 5 |
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New York Rangers | October 12, 1976 | 5 |
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Toronto Maple Leafs | February 2, 1977 | 5 |
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New York Islanders | December 23, 1978 | 5 |
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Minnesota North Stars | January 15, 1979 | 5 |
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New York Islanders | January 6, 1981 | 5 |
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Edmonton Oilers | February 18, 1981 | 5 |
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Edmonton Oilers | December 30, 1981 | 5 |
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Chicago Black Hawks | February 3, 1982 | 5 |
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New York Islanders | February 13, 1982 | 5 |
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Winnipeg Jets | March 2, 1982 | 5 |
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New York Rangers | February 23, 1983 | 5 |
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Edmonton Oilers | November 19, 1983 | 5 |
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Washington Capitals | January 8, 1984 | 5 |
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Edmonton Oilers | February 3, 1984 | 5 |
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Edmonton Oilers | December 15, 1984 | 5 |
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Buffalo Sabres | February 6, 1986 | 5 |
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Edmonton Oilers | December 6, 1987 | 5 |
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Pittsburgh Penguins | December 31, 1988 | 5 |
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Calgary Flames | January 11, 1989 | 5 |
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Pittsburgh Penguins | April 25, 1989 | 5 |
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Quebec Nordiques | March 5, 1992 | 5 |
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Pittsburgh Penguins | April 9, 1993 | 5 |
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Washington Capitals | February 5, 1994 | 5 |
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Quebec Nordiques | February 17, 1994 | 5 |
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Winnipeg Jets | April 1, 1995 | 5 |
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Pittsburgh Penguins | March 26, 1996 | 5 |
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Detroit Red Wings | December 26, 1996 | 5 |
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Minnesota Wild | December 20, 2007 | 5 |
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Detroit Red Wings | February 2, 2011 | 5 |
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Winnipeg Jets | November 24, 2018 | 5 |
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New York Rangers | March 5, 2020 | 5 |
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San Jose Sharks | January 17, 2022 | 5 |
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Buffalo Sabres | December 7, 2022 | 5 |
Players Who Scored Five or More Goals in Multiple Games
Name | Nationality | Total |
---|---|---|
Joe Malone | ![]() |
5 |
Wayne Gretzky | ![]() |
4 |
Mario Lemieux | ![]() |
4 |
Newsy Lalonde | ![]() |
3 |
Babe Dye | ![]() |
2 |
Maurice Richard | ![]() |
2 |
Darryl Sittler | ![]() |
2 |
Bryan Trottier | ![]() |
2 |