The Pittsburgh Penguins played in, at the time, the third-longest NHL playoff game 25 years ago today. Well, technically, the game started on April 24, 1996, but it actually ended at 2:15 a.m. April 25.
Petr Nedved scored with 44.6 seconds left in the fourth overtime period to give the Penguins a 3-2 win over the Washington Capitals. The win evened the series at 2-2, and the Penguins went on to win the series, 4-2.
“It was anybody’s game,” goaltender Ken Wregget said at the time. “Anything could have happened there at any time.”
Almost everything else did happen earlier in the game.
The Penguins lost captain Mario Lemieux near the end of the second period. The Capitals’ Todd Krieger had his stick between Lemieux’s legs and then punched Lemieux in the head, causing him to lose his helmet and, apparently, his cool.
Lemieux chased after Krieger, slashing him in the back of the legs and then tackling and pummeling him. Officials dished out a handful of penalties to Lemieux: two minutes for slashing, a five-minute fighting major and two minutes for being the instigator, which came with an automatic game misconduct.
“What he did was vicious and wrong,” Krieger told reporters after the game. “I barely even touched him, and he jumped all over me. I think he should be suspended.”
Trailing 2-1 at the time, the Penguins came back to tie it with a power-play goal by Nedved in the third period. And then came the overtimes.
This game also featured the first overtime penalty shot in NHL history.
In the second overtime, Penguins defenseman Chris Tamer made a desperation lunge to prevent the puck from going in the net, and he knocked the net off the moorings a fraction of a second later. Referees awarded a penalty shot.
The Capitals’ Joe Juneau took the penalty shot, and the puck appeared to skip on him right before he shot it into Wregget’s body. Wregget, incidentally, was in the game because starter Tom Barrasso left after the first period with muscle spasms.
Finally, in the fourth overtime, Nedved ended the game with a wrister through traffic that eluded Capitals goalie Olaf Kolzig
Nedved slid on his knees in celebration as his teammates mobbed him.
Incidentally, since that game 25 years ago, the Penguins have played in a game that went even longer. This time, it didn’t end on a high note, as Keith Primeau scored in the fifth overtime on May 4, 2000, to give the Flyers a 2-1 win over the Penguins, who were eliminated from the playoffs two games later.
NHL’s longest playoff games
March 24, 1936: Detroit 1, Montreal Maroons 0, semifinal, 116 minutes, 30 seconds
April 3, 1933: Toronto 1, Boston 0, semifinal, 104:46
May 4, 2000: Philadelphia 2, Pittsburgh 1, conference semifinal, 92:01
Aug. 11, 2020: Tampa Bay 3, Columbus 2, conference first round, 90:27
April 24, 2003: Anaheim 4, Dallas 3, conference semifinal, 80:48
April 24, 1996: Pittsburgh 3, Washington 2, conference quarterfinal, 79:15
