Which player holds the record for most goals in an NHL game?

Few records in hockey feel as untouchable as those born from a single explosive night. Every now and then, a game escapes its usual rhythm and turns into something extraordinary, rewriting what seemed possible inside one sheet of ice.

The NHL has seen legends rise through steady greatness, but on rare occasions, history has been shaped in a matter of minutes. One unforgettable performance still towers over the rest, whispered whenever scoring feats are mentioned.

Time has passed, eras have changed and defensive systems have evolved, yet that night continues to stand apart. Decades later, the question lingers in highlight reels, record books and debates across generations of fans.

The one-night legend: Joe Malone’s 7-goal eruption

On January 31, 1920, a player wrote his name into NHL legend in a way no one else has matched: Joe Malone of the Quebec Bulldogs scored an astonishing seven goals in a single game against the Toronto St. Patricks. That performance remains the record for the most goals by a single player in one regular-season game.

Joe Malones (Source: NHL Records and @NHLPR)

What makes his feat even more remarkable is how rare such scoring nights have been over the century that followed. In history, five-goal games are noteworthy but uncommon — by one count, they have occurred only about 64 times.

Six-goal games have happened even less frequently, the last of them over forty years ago. That 1920 game stands as a mythical performance, a benchmark against which all other single-game scoring feats are measured, even as the league evolved, ice became faster, tactics smarter and goalies tougher.

Why Malone’s record still matters and why it may never be broken

Modern NHL is dramatically different from the 1920 era: defensive schemes, goaltending, team depth and schedule rigors have transformed the game. Even the best scorers now rarely approach the kind of output that seemed feasible a century ago. That makes Malone’s 7-goal game a record and a historical outlier.

Recent decades have seen explosive offensive nights — even two players reached five-goal games in 2022, showing that scoring outbursts can still happen. But those remain exceptions. The absence of any six- or seven-goal games in modern memory underscores the degree to which his record defies time and context.

Moreover, the nature of the modern game works against the possibility of replicating such performances. The elements that aligned for Joe once, perhaps a weaker opposing defense, looser goaltending standards or even the sheer chaos of early NHL structure, are largely absent today.

That’s why, despite 100+ years of hockey, fans and analysts still treat Joe Malone’s 1920 game as hockey’s most untouchable single-game scoring record, a moment frozen in time that serves both as inspiration and a reminder of how much the sport has changed.