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BOX SCORE
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- They started in early evening and didn't stop
until the middle of the night. They lost track of time, the number
of overtimes, even which end of the rink was theirs.
|  | | Keith Primeau scored just the eighth playoff goal of his 79 postseason games ... and it was a biggie. |
The Philadelphia Flyers ran out of dry uniforms. The Pittsburgh
Penguins nearly ran out of defensemen. Just like many of their
sleep-deprived fans watching at home, they ran out of pizza.
As the overtimes ticked by -- one, three, and, finally, five --
they became more exhausted, more apprehensive, more cautious. No
one wanted to commit the mistake that cost his team the
third-longest game in NHL history.
"It wasn't pretty hockey," Penguins goaltender Ron Tugnutt
said. "All the players were exhausted. It is a tough way to play.
You're fighting yourself to stay in the game."
So, perhaps fittingly, the NHL's longest game in 64 years was
mercifully ended by a player recently demoted because he couldn't
score big goals in the playoffs.
Keith Primeau, dropped from the top line two games ago because
of his lack of production, whizzed a hard wrist shot by Tugnutt at
12:01 of the fifth overtime early Friday morning to give the Flyers
a 2-1 victory over the Penguins.
The Flyers barely had the energy to celebrate after requiring 92
minutes, 1 second of overtime and the equivalent of 2½ games to
earn a 2-2 series tie in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Game 5
is Sunday in Philadelphia.
The only longer games in NHL history were in the 1930s. Detroit
beat the Montreal Maroons 1-0 in an overtime that lasted 116
minutes, 30 seconds on March 24, 1936, and Toronto beat Boston 1-0
in an overtime that lasted 104 minutes, 36 seconds on April 3,
1933.
Wasn't the Pittsburgh Marathon supposed to be Sunday?
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The longest OTs and who scored the winners
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March 24, 1936: Detroit 1, Montreal Maroons 0, semifinal, 116
minutes, 30 seconds, Mud Bruneteau.
April 3, 1933: Toronto 1, Boston 0, semifinal, 104:46, Ken
Doraty.
May 4, 2000: Philadelphia 2, Pittsburgh 1, quarterfinal, 92:01,
Keith Primeau.
April 24, 1996: Pittsburgh 3, Washington 2, conference
quarterfinal, 79:15, Petr Nedved.
March 23, 1943: Toronto 3, Detroit 2, semifinal, 70:18, Jack
McLean.
March 28, 1930: Montreal Canadiens 2, N.Y. Rangers 1,
semifinal, 68:52, Gus Rivers.
April 18, 1987: N.Y. Islanders 3, Washington 2, first round,
68:47, Pat LaFontaine.
April 27, 1994: Buffalo 1, New Jersey 0, first round, 65:43,
Dave Hannan.
March 27, 1951: Montreal Canadiens 3, Detroit 2, semifinal,
61:09, Maurice Richard.
March 27, 1938: N.Y. Americans 3, N.Y. Rangers 2, quarterfinal,
Lorne Carr, 60:40.
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"We're going down in hockey history," said Primeau, who had
only seven goals in 78 previous playoff games. "I was so into the
game, I didn't know what was going on. I didn't know what time it
was, what period it was or even if anybody was watching."
Surprisingly, about a third of the 17,148 fans stayed around
until the finish at 2:35 a.m. ET, seven hours after the start. Some
slept in their seats. Those who stayed awake didn't always see
brilliant hockey, but they never saw bad hockey, even if both teams
had long since lost their game legs by the end.
"It was getting sluggish," Tugnutt said. "Everything seemed
to be in slow motion. The breaks between periods got shorter and
shorter. You got dizzy. Your mind played tricks on you. You'd
forget which end of the rink was yours."
Between periods, the players guzzled any beverage they could
find and wolfed down the pizza that was to have been their
post-game meal. The Flyers dug into equipment bags and trunks to
find dry gear. Goaltender Brian Boucher longed for dry skates.
"You'd be moving around in there, and you'd hear them
squishing," he said. "It was awful."
Surprisingly, the game-winning goal wasn't a deflection or a
fluke or a trick. Primeau carried the puck along the right wing
boards, put a move on defenseman Darius Kasparaitis and zipped a
wrist shot for the game's 130th and last shot.
By contrast, the Flyers' first goal, by John LeClair on a
deflection of Eric Desjardins' shot early in the third period, was
by accident. The Penguins argued LeClair's stick was above the
crossbar, but the video replay was inconclusive and the goal was
counted.
Remarkably, the Penguins scored on their first shot, by Alexei
Kovalev at 2:22 of the first period, then didn't score again.
"To play that long and that hard and that well and lose ...
well, it's rough," the Penguins' Rob Brown said.
Ask Tugnutt, the only goalie in NHL history to twice make 70
saves in a game and not win either. He also made 70 saves in a 1991
regular-season tie.
Now, after the longest, and one of the bleakest, nights in their
history, the Penguins and Jaromir Jagr must be wondering if they
have anything left for the rest of the series.
By losing two home overtime games in three nights, they
squandered the 2-0 lead they took in Philadelphia, as well as
home-ice advantage in a series where the home team has yet to win.
"This game shows how close these teams are," Brown said. "We
have to go into Philly and win. We wish we didn't have to do it
this way, but we have to."
They probably won't unless Jagr plays like he did in scoring
five goals in the first three games.
Bothered by flu-like symptoms in Game 4, he didn't resemble the
player who had previously dominated the series, laboring just to go
from end to end while rarely getting good scoring chances.
As a result, the Flyers sense the momentum and the series now
belong to them. As does a spot in the record book that won't be
replaced easily.
"To play that hard for eight periods and not win, that has to
be hard on them," Primeau said. "I just hope we don't have to do
this again soon."
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Philadelphia Clubhouse
Pittsburgh Clubhouse
RECAPS
AUDIO/VIDEO
 John LeClair deflects in the Eric Desjardins shot for the power-play goal.
avi: 668 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Alexei Kovalev fires the slap shot past Brian Boucher for the goal.
avi: 583 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Keith Primeau beats Ron Tugnutt for the game-winner in the fifth overtime.
avi: 616 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
 Keith Primeau tied Philadelphia's series with Pittsburgh.
wav: 411 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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