In the nick of time: 4 NHL contests feature game-tying goals within final 15 seconds of regulation

Now this is coming through in the nick of time.

For the first time in NHL history, there were four contests that featured game-tying goals within the final 15 seconds of regulation on the same day.

Cutting it even more close, two of the tying scores on Tuesday night came within the final 2 seconds, which marks just the second time that’s happened on the same day (Oct. 8, 2009), according to NHL Stats.

There was plenty of late-night drama on the ice.

Pavel Dorofeyev of Vegas tied his game against the New York Islanders with 14 seconds left, while Colorado’s Cale Makar came through on a power-play goal with 8 seconds remaining at Nashville.

Connor McDavid cut it a little closer by scoring the equalizer for Edmonton with 2 seconds on the clock versus Buffalo, and 19-year-old Beckett Sennecke of Anaheim really had a flair for the dramatic, scoring with 1 second left in Pittsburgh.

Alas, not all the tying goals resulted in favorable endings.

Of the four late-scoring teams, only Anaheim prevailed — in a shootout, no less. Dorofeyev and the Golden Knights lost to the Islanders in a shootout. It was the same fate for Makar and the Avalanche, who lost in a shootout.

As for McDavid and the Oilers, they lost 33 seconds into OT when Buffalo’s Alex Tuch scored.

So far this season, the NHL has had 372 close contests, which is defined as a one-goal margin or two-plus with an empty-net goal. It’s the most at this stage of a season in league history (475 games played), according to NHL research.

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