Errol Thompson’s Five-Point Night Fuels 18-Goal Leafs vs. Blackhawks Shootout in 1977

When the Toronto Maple Leafs visited the Chicago Blackhawks at Chicago Stadium on February 20, 1977, fans expecting a tight defensive contest were quickly proven wrong. The two clubs combined for an astonishing 18 goals in one of the highest-scoring games of the modern NHL era.

Leading the offensive parade was Summerside, Prince Edward Island native Errol Thompson, who delivered a spectacular performance for Toronto. Thompson recorded a hat trick and added two assists, factoring into five Maple Leafs goals. He set up tallies by Lanny McDonald and Darryl Sittler, helping power Toronto through a wild back-and-forth contest.

One of the most explosive stretches came early in the third period. Chicago’s Pit Martin opened the scoring surge at 1:04. Just 25 seconds later, Sittler buried his 25th goal of the season. Thompson followed with his 14th of the 1976-77 campaign at 2:07 before Grant Mulvey answered for Chicago at 2:40. The four goals in just 1 minute and 36 seconds rank among the fastest scoring bursts in NHL history, though they did not quite set the record.

At the time, the game’s 18 combined goals stood as the highest total in the “modern era” of the NHL. Only a pair of games during the offense-heavy 1943-44 season had surpassed it with 19 goals. The all-time NHL record remains the 21 goals scored in a 1920 matchup between the Toronto St. Pats and the Montreal Canadiens, a very different era of hockey.

Despite the offensive fireworks, the goaltenders faced a heavy workload. Toronto’s Wayne Thomas stopped 38 of 46 shots, while Chicago’s Gilles Villemure surrendered nine goals on 37 shots, with the final tally coming into an empty net.

The night also featured another standout performance from Toronto’s Ian Turnbull, who recorded a goal and four assists for a five-point effort of his own. McDonald added two goals, including the game winner, and two assists for a four-point game.

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7-7 Chaos: Sabres and Canadiens Combine for 10 First-Period Goals

On October 26, 1982, fans at the Montreal Forum were treated to one of the wildest first periods in NHL history. The Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres combined for 10 goals in the opening 20 minutes and remarkably, all 10 came from different players.

Buffalo exploded out of the gate, building a 3-0 lead by the 5:25 mark, including two goals just 25 seconds apart. Montreal answered with three of their own midway through the frame, and by the time the period ended, both clubs had added two more goals each. Canadiens starter Rick Wamsley was lifted after allowing five goals on eight shots, replaced by Richard Sevigny.

The second period belonged to newly acquired forward Ryan Walter. Picked up in a September 1982 trade from the Washington Capitals, Walter scored twice, both assisted by Guy Lafleur, to give Montreal a 7-5 lead. He added an earlier assist to finish with the game’s only three-point performance.

But the Sabres weren’t finished. Third-period goals by Ric Seiling and Gilles Hamel evened the score at 7-7, where it would stay. In a night overflowing with offense, Walter stood alone with three points, while a long list of players on both sides recorded multi-point efforts in one of the most chaotic ties of the early 1980s.

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Crazy 8’s on Long Island: Mike Bossy Scores Four in Historic 8–8 Tie With Oilers

On March 3, 1981, the Edmonton Oilers and New York Islanders delivered one of the wildest offensive showcases in NHL history. Sixteen total goals lit up the Nassau Coliseum scoreboard as the two clubs skated to an 8-8 tie, the NHL’s first 8-8 draw in 45 years.

The last time a game ended with that score was February 16, 1936, when the Montreal Maroons and New York Americans battled to a similar deadlock. Nearly half a century later, two teams that helped usher in hockey’s modern offensive era revived the rare result.

Mike Bossy was at the center of the madness. The Islanders’ superstar scored four goals on just four shots, netting goals No. 58 through 61 of his remarkable 1980-81 season. Despite the goal explosion, Edmonton goaltender Eddie Mio faced only 24 shots, while Islanders netminder Billy Smith was tested far more frequently, turning aside shots among the 41 he faced.

After forty minutes, New York appeared to be in control, holding a 6-4 lead. But the Oilers exploded in the third period. In a blistering 4:09 span, Edmonton scored four times to seize an 8-6 advantage. Wayne Gretzky tallied his second goal of the night, his 44th of the season, as part of a four-point performance. He was joined on the scoresheet by Glenn Anderson, Jari Kurri, and Mark Messier, each finishing the night with four points.

The Islanders weren’t finished.

Just 47 seconds after Kurri gave Edmonton its two-goal cushion, Bossy struck again to pull New York within one. With time winding down, Anders Kallur completed the comeback, tying the game at 18:14 of the third period with helpers from Héctor Marini and Wayne Merrick.

Bossy also added an assist earlier in the game on Steve Tambellini’s second-period goal, giving him a five-point night in one of the most unforgettable regular-season games of the era. The final horn sealed an 8-8 tie, a fitting result for a night that perfectly captured the free-wheeling, high-octane style that defined early-1980s NHL hockey.

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