I’m not an especially jealous person, but one of my great regrets as a sportswriter is that I’ve never been able to come up with an idea as cool as scorigami, the Jon Bois concept of a completely unique NFL score. It’s brilliant.
It also doesn’t work all that well in hockey, a sport that generates the same handful of scores over and over. Or does it? That’s the question that more than a few of you have sent in over the years, most recently from reader Jaromir M: Are there any scores in NHL history that have never happened? That have happened only once? That haven’t happened in a long time?
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Huh. That sounds like a column.`
Let’s start with some math. The most goals ever scored by one team in a regulation NHL game is 16. If we set that as our ceiling, that leaves us with 153 possible final scores. Of those, my dive into the Hockey-Reference games database tells me that 42 possible scores have happened during this current season, while 59 have never happened at all. (More on those in a minute.) That leaves us with 52 scores that have happened at least once, but not this year.
(By the way, a quick note on shootouts: They suck. A slightly longer note: The database doesn’t count shootout winners, meaning it considers a 2-1 shootout win to be a 1-1 final. The NHL does too, kind of, since they don’t give anyone credit for that shootout goals, although they do reflect them in the results. For our purposes, this doesn’t end up mattering all that much in terms of unique scores, but just know that shootouts are going into the books as ties. The way the hockey gods intended.)
Let’s dig through those and see if we can find any cool stories. We’ll work our way backward through history, starting just a few months ago.
There are 14 unique scores that haven’t happened this season (yet) but have happened in the 2020s. Here are the most recent examples of each.
Kings 7, Blues 6 – March 26, 2023: This was actually the second 7-6 game in less than a week; the Blue Jackets had beaten the Capitals just five days earlier.
Panthers 9, Canadiens 5 – March 16, 2023: This one was memorable for featuring an absolutely ridiculous first period that had 10 goals, including eight in the first half of the period.
Stars 10, Sabres 4 – March 9, 2023: This whole game was weird, as Saad Yousuf covered at the time. Eric Comrie gave up all 10 for Buffalo, one of just four goalies since 2000 to surrender double-digits in a game.
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Wild 8, Blues 5 – March 15, 2023: Yeah, yeah, there were a lot of goals and the score was weird. The important thing here is that Marc-Andre Fleury almost fought Jordan Binnington.
Capitals 9, Canadiens 2 – Dec. 31, 2022: OK, it may fall just short of being the greatest New Year’s Eve game in Canadiens history. But it did have an Alex Ovechkin hat trick, and Jake Allen being left in for all nine goals.
Kraken 9, Kings 8 – Nov. 29, 2022: This was the fifth 9-8 game in NHL history, but the first to end in overtime. Among many other things, it spelled the end of the Cal Petersen era in Los Angeles, as he was so bad in this game that he was waived a few days later. And he wasn’t even the starter.
Avalanche 8, Oilers 6 – May 31, 2022: In a star-studded playoff showdown, there were 14 goals and the only player to manage more than one was J.T. Compher. And this wasn’t even the highest scoring Oilers game of that postseason…
Flames 9, Oilers 6 – May 18, 2022: The first Battle of Alberta playoff game in 31 years certainly didn’t disappoint. The Flames jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead, the Oilers came back to tie it 6-6 in the third, and then Calgary pulled away at the end.
Penguins 11, Red Wings 2 – March 27, 2022: Evgeni Malkin had a hat trick, because this was back when he used to score into the other team’s net.
Predators 8, Sharks 0 – March 5, 2022: Juuse Saros made 20 saves to narrowly outduel the tag team of Alex Stalock and Zachary Sawchenko. Roman Josi had four assists and was a plus-6.
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Maple Leafs 10, Red Wings 7 – Feb. 26, 2022: This was a fun one, highlighted by four goals from Mitch Marner.
Sharks 7, Coyotes 7 – Dec. 28, 2021: The Sharks won this one in a shootout. If you’d prefer the last actual 7-7 tie, you have to go back to a 1995 game between the Canucks and Kings, in which current Vancouver coach Rick Tocchet had two goals for L.A.
Rangers 9, Flyers 0 – March 17, 2021: Move over, Hawks and Blues, this might be the real St. Patrick’s Day Massacre. The Rangers scored all nine goals before the second intermission, including a Mika Zibanejad natural hat rick. Fun fact: The Rangers played this game without any of their usual coaches, making it technically the NHL head coaching debut of current Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch.
This section covers all of the scores that happened most recently during the low-scoring era that started when the Devils Panthers ruined everything. There aren’t many, because 99 percent of the games ended 2-1 for a few decades and nobody thought that might be a problem.
Blackhawks 8, Senators 7 – Feb. 18, 2019: Alex DeBrincat had a hat trick for Chicago. Man, the Senators should try to trade for that guy someday.
Blue Jackets 10, Canadiens 0 – Nov. 4, 2016: This score has happened 18 times in NHL history, but this is the only one since 1996. The Habs left Al Montoya in for the entire game, because hanging a goalie out to dry in a blowout has never gone badly for them before.
Penguins 10, Flyers 3 – April 18, 2012: Yes, this was from that ridiculously incredible playoff series. Game 4, to be specific, and the third straight contest in which a team had scored at least eight times. The Penguins were facing elimination, and ran off eight straight goals after trailing 3-2 early.
Senators 11, Capitals 5 – Nov. 13, 2001: How much do you want to bet Jacques Martin bag-skated the Sens the next day for giving up five? Also, the winning goalie: Some guy named Jani Hurme.
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Panthers 10, Bruins 5 – Nov. 26, 1997: Shout out to tough guy defensive defenseman Terry Carkner, who was plus-6 in this one.
We’ve made it back to the mid-1990s, and we still have 32 scores to go. It’s going to get silly.
Sharks 10, Penguins 8 – Jan. 13, 1996: This score has actually happened seven times in NHL history, which is way more than I would have thought. The Pens blew a 6-3 lead here, thanks largely to a Ray Sheppard hat trick.
Red Wings 11, Canadiens 1 – Dec. 2, 1995: Habs fans know this one just by the date. Yes, it’s the infamous Patrick Roy game, the one that spelled the end of his time in Montreal and led to his trade to the Avalanche a few days later.
Capitals 10, Blues 6 – Feb. 11, 1993: All I have to say about this game is that the box score is a literal who’s who of early 90s names, and looking at it made me happy.
Flames 13, Sharks 1* – Feb. 10, 1993: The asterisk denotes that we’ve hit our first score that is completely unique; this is the only 13-1 game in NHL history. It made history in other ways, including Jeff Reese setting a record with three assists by a goaltender and Theo Fleury going plus-9. But maybe my favorite stat from this game: The Sharks actually held a lead for over 10 minutes.
Sabres 11, Rangers 6 – Dec. 31, 1992: I’m going to get ahead of this and just say, no, I’m not sure why there are going to be so many games from 1992 on this list. It was just a weird year. Seriously, we were all dressing like this, I’m not sure what to tell you. Anyway, this game featured five-point nights from Pat LaFontaine and Alexander Mogilny, plus a hat trick from somebody named Yuri Khmylev.
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Red Wings 9, Lightning 7 – Dec. 5, 1992: Sorry, I know I should say something about Steve Yzerman’s five-point night for Detroit, but I saw that there was a Lightning goal scored by Shawn Chambers and assisted by Bob Beers and now I really want to go play NHLPA 93.
Rangers 11, Penguins 3 – Nov. 25, 1992: This game was notable for being the first time Adam Graves returned to Pittsburgh after breaking Mario Lemieux’s wrist in the playoffs. The Penguins got their revenge, holding him to just three goals and five points.
Sabres 12, Senators 3 – Oct. 30, 1992: This was the 10th game in Senators franchise history, and also the sixth game in which they’d given up at least five goals. In other news, this was the first winning start in Buffalo for some weird new Sabres backup named Dominik Hasek.
Canucks 11, Flames 0 – March 1, 1992: How bad does a game have to be for the GM to fire himself immediately afterward? This bad, as Flames GM Doug Risebrough quickly relieved Flames coach Doug Risebrough of his duties.
Sabres 8, Devils 8 – Jan. 15, 1992: The Devils waited until Chris Terreri gave up his eighth goal about 50 minutes in before replacing him with Craig Billington, who shut the door the rest of the way. Meanwhile, Dale Hawerchuk tied a franchise record with five assists for the Sabres.
Penguins 12, Maple Leafs 1 – Dec. 26, 1991: Mario Lemieux had seven points and Grant Fuhr gave up all 12, a feat no goalie has managed since. This Boxing Day debacle was one of the worst losses in Leafs franchise history, but it came with a silver lining, as legend has it that witnessing this debacle inspired Cliff Fletcher to pull the trigger on the long-rumored Doug Gilmour trade a few days later.
Kings 12, Flames 4 – April 10, 1990: This was Game 4 of the highly underrated 1990 series that ended on the Mike Krushelnyski overtime floater. This game did not go into overtime, as the Kings had a 7-0 lead early in the second.
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Hockey was so much more fun before defense and goaltending were invented.
Red Wings 12, Blackhawks 0 – Dec. 4, 1987: The Red Wings had a winger named Tim Higgins who hadn’t scored all season heading into this one; he had a hat trick by the midway mark. The game also featured a plus-6 from Gilbert Delorme and a Gordie Howe hat trick by Bob Probert.
Oiler 13, Kings 3 – April 9, 1987: This was the playoffs, and the Kings had won the opening game. Bad move, apparently. Wayne Gretzky tied a postseason record with six assists.
Maple Leafs 11, Oilers 9* – Jan. 8, 1986: This was back when the Oilers were at the height of their powers and the Leafs very much were not, and you’ll just have to trust me when I say it was the most ridiculous thing any of us had ever seen. The Leafs led 5-1 after one period, blew the lead in the second, were trailing early in the third, and then poured it on late, with Miroslav Fryčer’s fourth(!) goal of the game holding up as the winner.
Oilers 13, Canucks 0 – Nov. 8, 1985: One of two 13-0 games in league history, this one featured zero goals from Gretzky but three from Dave Lumley.
Jets 12, Rangers 5 – Feb. 25, 1985: The Rangers jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a goal by future Survivor contestant Tom Laidlaw, but couldn’t quite hold it. Five Jets tied for the team lead with three points, including current Stars GM Jim Nill.
Flyers 13, Canucks 2* – Oct. 18, 1984: The Flyers got four points from first-ballot Hall-of-Very-Gooder Tim Kerr. Meanwhile, the Canucks at least got a goal from a young Cam Neely.
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Flyers 13, Penguins 4 – March 22, 1984: Kerr had six points in this one. I don’t know what to tell you, he just spent all of 1984 terrorizing Alek Stojanov’s future teams.
Oilers 12, North Stars 8* – Jan. 4, 1984: Ho hum, eight points by Gretzky and six assists from Mark Messier, just another night at the rink in mid-80s Edmonton.
Canucks 10, North Stars 9 – Oct. 7, 1983: At the time, this was the highest scoring NHL game since 1944. It also set a record, since tied, with a total of 10 power-play goals.
North Stars 15, Jets 2* – Nov. 11, 1981: This is the most goals scored by an NHL team in the modern era. Bobby Smith led the way with seven points, while Doug Soetaert gave up all 15 for the Jets. From The New York Times: ”I told my team after one period, ‘Let’s take the game over,’” said Coach Glen Sonmor of Minnesota. ”I guess we did.” Maybe should have told them to ease up after two, Glen.
Sabres 14, Maple Leafs 4* – March 19, 1981: My favorite part of this game is that Buffalo was up 10-3 after two periods, then the Leafs scored the first goal of the third and the Sabres were like, “OK fine, here’s four more.”
Nordiques 11, Capitals 7 – Feb. 22, 1981: Imagine scoring three goals in an NHL game and you don’t even end up leading your own family. This is the famous game in which rookie brothers Peter and Anton Stastny both recorded eight points.
If you’re like me, you might think that 59 sounds kind of high. But then you look at the grid, and it makes sense; it’s basically all the high-number combos. That’s right, there’s never been a 15-14 game in the NHL, or 16-9, or 15-12. Yes, even in the 1980s Norris Division. Shocking, I know.
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But there are still a few interesting facts we can dig out of the data:
• There has never been a tie or shootout in which both teams scored nine goals or more. The highest tie score in NHL history is 8-8, which has happened (fittingly) eight times.
• The lowest final score to have never happened, in terms of total goals by both teams, is 14-0.
• The only final score to have never happened in which both teams stayed in single digits was that 9-9 tie.
• Other never-seen “low” scores, which is to say games with 20 or fewer goals, include 10-10, 11-8, 12-7, 13-5, 14-5, 14-6, 15-1, 15-3, 15-4 and 15-5, plus anything with 16 goals that isn’t the one 16-3 final we’re about to get to.
• The lowest scoring one-goal game to have never happened is 11-10.
• Also, what should we call the NHL version of a scorigami? Orr-igami? Shore-igami? Core Four-igami? I’m open to ideas.
And finally…
We finish up by hopping into the wayback machine to find the five scores we have left. Avert your eyes, Rangers fans.
Maple Leafs 14, Rangers 1* – March 16, 1957: Poor Gump Worsley gave up all 14, the most ever by a goalie who’d make the Hall of Fame.
Bruins 14, Rangers 3* – Jan. 21, 1945: This was during the war years, which hit the entire league hard. No team worse than the Rangers, though. How bad were they? Well…
Red Wings 15, Rangers 0* – Jan. 23, 1944: Yeah, pretty bad. This one stands alone as the worst blowout in NHL history. By the way, Ken McAuley’s goaltending career lasted just 96 NHL games, but they included being on the losing end of each of our last two scores.
Canadiens 13, Tigers 6* – Feb. 26, 1921: That would be the Hamilton Tigers, if you’re wondering. Newsy Lalonde and Phantom Joe Malone had dueling hat tricks, although we’re so far back in the past now that assists aren’t being recorded.
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And last but (literally) far from least…
Canadiens 16, Bulldogs 3 – March 3, 1920: This is the one and only 16-goal game in NHL history. Only six Canadiens skaters are listed in the box score, and five of them had multiple goals. The Quebec Bulldogs regrouped in time to lose their next games 11-2 and 11-6, won the season finale 10-2, and then were never seen again, presumably because they were needed back on their home planet.
(Photo of Patrick Roy in his final game for the Canadiens: Bruce Bennett Studios via Getty Images Studios / Getty Images)
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Sean McIndoe has been a senior NHL writer with The Athletic since 2018. He launched Down Goes Brown in 2008 and has been writing about hockey ever since, with stops including Grantland, Sportsnet and Vice Sports. His book, “The Down Goes Brown History of the NHL,” is available in book stores now. Follow Sean on Twitter @DownGoesBrown
