Most goals in one NHL playoff game: Where Leon Draisaitl, Joe Pavelski rank in history after four-goal games

For the second consecutive night, the NHL had a player score all four goals in a losing playoff effort. 

One night after Stars forward Joe Pavelski potted four goals for Dallas, Oilers star Leon Draisaitl did the same on Wednesday. The Edmonton star scored all four tallies for his club in Game 1 against Vegas. 

It marked just the fourth time in NHL history that a player scored all four goals in a playoff loss, joining Pavelski, Ray Ferraro and Denis Savard. It also was the first time there were two, four-goal performances on back-to-back nights in the postseason since 1988 when John Tucker and Tony Hrkac accomplished the feat. 

Players who scored all 4 of a team's goals (or more) in a playoff loss:
**Leon Draisaitl EDM (Game 1 2023 2nd round)
**Joe Pavelski SJ (Game 1 2023 2nd round)
Ray Ferraro NYI (Game 5 1993 Div Semis)
Denis Savard CHI (Game 2 1986 Div Semis)
**Last 2 nights@ESPNStatsInfo

— ᴀʀᴅᴀ Öᴄᴀʟ (@Arda) May 4, 2023

Joe Pavelski & Leon Draisaitl

First pair to score 4 goals on back-to-back nights in the postseason since John Tucker (Sabres) & Tony Hrkac (Blues) on April 9-10, 1988

— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) May 4, 2023

Draisaitl's four goals weren't good enough to get a Game 1 win, as the Golden Knights defeated the Oilers 6-4 to grab a 1-0 series lead. 

Pavelski put on a show in Game 1 against the Kraken, potting all four goals in Dallas' 5-4 overtime loss to Seattle.

The 38-year-old Pavelski became the oldest player to score four goals in a playoff game. This coming after he missed the last five games in the Stars' first-round series after he was injured on a hit by Wild defenseman Matt Dumba. 

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The veteran winger was the first player to score four goals in a playoff contest since his former Stars teammate Denis Gurianov lit the lamp four times in a 2020 playoff game against the Flames. 

The four-goal outings by Pavelski and Draisaitl put them in playoff history, but were they the most goals scored in a single playoff game by a player?

The Sporting News has you covered on where Pavelski and Draisaitl rank on the all-time list. 

MORE: Finalists for the 2023 NHL Awards, including the Hart, Norris

Most goals in one NHL playoff game by a player

Pavelski's four-goal performance was the 40th time in NHL playoff history that a player scored at least four goals. Draisaitl's was the 41st. 

While four goals is impressive, both were one shy of tying the all-time mark. The record for most goals in a single postseason game is five, which has been achieved five times. 

Newsy Lalonde, Maurice Richard, Darryl Sittler, Reggie Leach and Mario Lemieux are the five players who have scored five goals in a single playoff game.