This Goal Ended 6th-Longest Game in NHL History

The Florida Panthers continued their improbable run in the NHL playoffs with a marathon victory for the record books Thursday night, or, more precisely, Friday morning. Matthew Tkachuk scored with 12.7 seconds left in the fourth overtime, meaning the teams played two full games and then some, a total of 139 minutes and 47 seconds—the sixth-longest game in league history, reports USA Today. Watch the goal here. The win gives Florida a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven conference finals.

"Probably my favorite [goal] so far in my life," said Tkachuk, per ESPN. "Big to not let it go to five overtimes there." Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky made 63 saves, and Carolina's Frederik Andersen made 57. Florida squeaked into the playoffs by a single point, then upset both the Boston Bruins (the best regular-season team in history) and Toronto. The winner of Florida-Carolina will play the winner of Las Vegas-Dallas for the Stanley Cup. This summary has been corrected to reflect the total time played. (More Florida Panthers stories.)