Game Summary: Panthers 3, Hurricanes 2
Thursday night in Raleigh, the East final tested the will of fans as the Panthers and Hurricanes kept the fun going until the fourth period of overtime.
At this point, Matthew Tkachuk waited almost the entire end of the engagement to score the winning goal for the Panthers. Clearly armed with a keen sense of showmanship, Tkachuk completed a game that will go down in history for both organizations regardless of the outcome of this series.
Thursday’s game lasted 139 minutes and 47 seconds. It’s almost two and a half hours on the ice actively playing. We spare you the total time of the match with breaks and stoppages, but the last whistle came about six hours after the first face-off.
Matthew Tkachuk ends Game 1 with 13 seconds left in the 4th overtime.
With 79 minutes and 47 seconds of overtime in Game 1, it was the 6th-longest game in Stanley Cup Playoff history. pic.twitter.com/HaQ6dJrHVv
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 19, 2023
For the record, it is the sixth longest game in NHL history. It was also the 15th time in playoff history that a game went to at least 4th overtime and for both organizations, we’re talking about the longest game in their respective histories.
In fact, it wasn’t really hard to determine since Game 1 of the Eastern Finals was officially the 6th longest game in NHL history.
Longest games in NHL playoff history
| Year | Winning team | Final mark | Opponent | Extension periods | Game time | Winning goal scorer |
| 1936 | Red Wings | 1-0 | Maroons | 6 | 176:30 | Mud Bruneteau |
| 1933 | Maple Leafs | 1-0 | Bruins | 6 | 164:46 | Ken Doraty |
| 2000 | flyers | 2-1 | Penguins | 5 | 152:01 | Keith Primeau |
| 2020 | Lightning | 3-2 | Blue Jackets | 5 | 150:27 | Brayden Point |
| 2003 | mighty ducks | 4-3 | stars | 5 | 140:48 | Petr Sykora |
| 2023 | Panthers | 3-2 | Hurricanes | 4 | 139:47 | Matthew Tkachuk |
Tkachuk’s goal robbed both teams of a Top-5 finish in this historic list 20 years after the wild night between the Ducks and the Stars in 2003.
You have to go back to 1936 to relive the longest game in history when the Wings won a game in 6th overtime with almost three hours of playing time.
Luckily for the Panthers and Hurricanes, they were well rested heading into this final as we enjoyed a longer break while waiting for the finalists out West. We bet, however, that a game twice as long to start hostilities will require additional recovery before the second game of the series on Saturday, still in Raleigh.
