Longest NHL Games in the Post-Expansion Era - The Hockey Writers
Playoff hockey is one of the greatest spectacles, especially when overtime happens. Here are the longest hockey games in the playoffs.
thehockeywriters.comShort answer: The longest NHL playoff game on record was 176 minutes and 30 seconds, a six-overtime marathon between the Detroit Red Wings and the Montreal Maroons in 1936.
Overview
- Historical context: That 1936 game, played in the Stanley Cup semifinals, lasted six full OT periods before Mud Bruneteau scored at 16:30 of the sixth overtime, giving Detroit a 1-0 win.[3]
- Other marathon games: Over the years there have been multiple four- and five-overtime playoff games, but the 176:30 mark remains the longest in NHL playoff history.[2][4]
- Notable follow-ups: Later eras have had lengthy overtime contests as well, including four-overtime games in the modern era, but none surpassed the 1936 record.[5][2]
Key takeaway
- The absolute NHL playoff record for duration is the 1936 Detroit vs. Montreal game at 176:30 of playtime. Subsequent long games have been historical milestones in their own right but did not exceed that total duration.[4][2][3]
If you’d like, I can pull links to the primary sources for citation or summarize a few of the other longest playoff games with their exact end times.