Few moments sting like watching your team enter the third period with the lead — only to lose by the final horn. RotoWire.com pulled data from every NHL regular-season game since 2000–01 to reveal which teams have been the biggest heartbreakers in the third period and at NHL betting sites.
With that in mind, RotoWire.com analyzed every regular-season game since 2000–01 where a team led through two periods and found which franchises have blown the most 3rd-period leads. The 
Islanders, Panthers and Canadiens top the league in collapses, while the Capitals, Golden Knights and Penguins are among the best at closing games.
Using Stathead's Team Game Finder, we analyzed all regular-season games from 2000–01 through the 2024–25 NHL season in which a team held a scoring margin of at least +1 after two periods.
For each team, we recorded:
- Games Led: Number of games where the team led after two periods
- W: Wins in those games
- L: Regulation losses
- T: Ties (pre-2005–06)
- OTL: Overtime or shootout losses
- Blown Leads were defined as L + T + OTL — any game where a team failed to win after leading through two periods.
- We ranked teams by total blown leads (descending) and used Blown Lead Percentage (Blown Leads ÷ GP) as a contextual metric and tiebreaker when needed.
Arizona Coyotes data (2000–2024) was excluded from this ranking, as the franchise is currently inactive and its records remain separate from the newly established Utah Hockey Club.
Rank | Team | Games Led | W | L | T | OTL | Blown Leads | Blown Lead % |
1 |
| 719 | 578 | 49 | 16 | 76 | 141 | 19.61% |
2 |
| 714 | 576 | 54 | 14 | 70 | 138 | 19.33% |
3 |
| 723 | 591 | 55 | 9 | 68 | 132 | 18.26% |
4 |
| 820 | 693 | 43 | 10 | 74 | 127 | 15.49% |
5 |
| 707 | 582 | 44 | 17 | 64 | 125 | 17.68% |
6 |
| 790 | 665 | 47 | 12 | 66 | 125 | 15.82% |
7 |
| 760 | 636 | 46 | 11 | 67 | 124 | 16.32% |
8 |
| 762 | 639 | 39 | 13 | 71 | 123 | 16.14% |
9 |
| 764 | 641 | 38 | 12 | 73 | 123 | 16.10% |
10 |
| 626 | 505 | 51 | 13 | 57 | 121 | 19.33% |
11 |
| 659 | 538 | 40 | 8 | 73 | 121 | 18.36% |
12 |
| 775 | 656 | 40 | 9 | 70 | 119 | 15.35% |
13 |
| 799 | 680 | 50 | 15 | 54 | 119 | 14.89% |
14 |
| 700 | 585 | 40 | 7 | 68 | 115 | 16.43% |
15 |
| 743 | 628 | 44 | 15 | 56 | 115 | 15.48% |
16 |
| 721 | 609 | 33 | 13 | 66 | 112 | 15.53% |
17 |
| 675 | 564 | 41 | 12 | 58 | 111 | 16.44% |
18 |
| 735 | 625 | 40 | 11 | 59 | 110 | 14.97% |
19 |
| 746 | 636 | 51 | 8 | 51 | 110 | 14.75% |
20 |
| 765 | 655 | 50 | 8 | 52 | 110 | 14.38% |
21 |
| 722 | 614 | 40 | 16 | 52 | 108 | 14.96% |
22 |
| 775 | 668 | 42 | 12 | 53 | 107 | 13.81% |
23 |
| 720 | 614 | 35 | 17 | 54 | 106 | 14.72% |
24 |
| 739 | 633 | 32 | 13 | 61 | 106 | 14.34% |
25 |
| 687 | 584 | 48 | 8 | 47 | 103 | 14.99% |
26 |
| 715 | 612 | 38 | 10 | 55 | 103 | 14.41% |
27 |
| 749 | 650 | 42 | 8 | 49 | 99 | 13.22% |
28 |
| 725 | 628 | 35 | 6 | 56 | 97 | 13.38% |
29 |
| 768 | 671 | 30 | 14 | 53 | 97 | 12.63% |
30 |
| 278 | 244 | 17 | 0 | 17 | 34 | 12.23% |
31 |
| 114 | 99 | 6 | 0 | 9 | 15 | 13.16% |
32 |
| 32 | 24 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 25.00% |
Florida Panthers 
Montreal Canadiens 
Chicago Blackhawks 
St. Louis Blues 
San Jose Sharks 
Vancouver Canucks 
Detroit Red Wings 
Columbus Blue Jackets 
Buffalo Sabres 
Toronto Maple Leafs 
Colorado Avalanche 
Anaheim Ducks 
Nashville Predators 
Philadelphia Flyers 
Edmonton Oilers 
Carolina Hurricanes 
Ottawa Senators 
Tampa Bay Lightning 
Calgary Flames 
Dallas Stars 
Minnesota Wild 
New Jersey Devils 
Winnipeg Jets 
Pittsburgh Penguins 
New York Rangers 
Washington Capitals 
Vegas Golden Knights 
Seattle Kraken 
Utah Mammoth Which NHL Teams Have Blown The Most Leads This Century?
When it comes to the most wins collected on the icy surfaces of the NHL, perennial frontrunners like the 
Boston Bruins (1,053 wins), Dallas Stars (1,046 wins), Washington Capitals (1,042 wins), Colorado Avalanche (1,034 wins) and St. Louis Blues (1,031 wins) lead the way, while other squads haven't been as fortunate.
When it comes to late game blown leads, our results show the New York Islanders have blown the most games when leading through two periods (141 total), narrowly edging out the Florida Panthers (138) and Montreal Canadiens (132).
At the other end of the spectrum, the Capitals and Golden Knights have been among the league's most reliable closers, losing fewer than 13% of games when leading after two, while the New York Rangers (13.38%), Pittsburgh Penguins (13.22%) and Los Angeles Kings (14.41%) are the other NHL clubs that have blown the fewest number of games since 2000.
When broken down solely by blown game percentage, the Islanders are in a league of their own in the 32-team NHL, with a blown lead percentage of 19.61%, ranking ahead of the Florida Panthers (19.33%), Montreal Canadiens (18.26%), Bruins (15.49%) and the Chicago Blackhawks (17.68%).
What's interesting is that the teams atop the NHL's blown lead list have, by and large, had no trouble collecting championships this century, with the Panthers winning each of the last two titles, while the Blackhawks won it all in 2010, 2013 and 2015 and the Bruins did the same back in 2011, leaving the Islanders as the lone team in the quintet not to have a Stanley Cup of their own this century.
The story's much the same at the other end of the blown lead spectrum, with Vegas winning it all in 2023, while Washington won the club's lone Stanley Cup back in 2018 and the Penguins have three titles to call their own since 2000, hoisting the Cup in 2009, 2016 and 2017.
The 
Kings were another NHL team to win multiple Stanley Cups in short order this century, taking home the title in 2012 and 2014, while the Tampa Bay Lightning (who have the 20th best blown lead percentage, at 14.38%) won titles in 2004, 2020 and 2021.
The other NHL teams to win multiple championships this century (the New Jersey Devils in 2000 and 2003, Colorado Avalanche in 2001 and 2022 and the Detroit Red Wings in 2002 and 2008) finished with blown lead rankings of 24th (14.34% blown lead percentage), 13th (14.89% blown lead percentage) and 9th (16.10%), speaking to the difficulty of keeping a lead in today's NHL.
This season, oddsmakers from FanDuel Sportsbook have the Panthers down as their preseason Stanley Cup betting favorite, with +650 odds that the Eastern Conference power 'three-peats' as the league champion in 2026, while the Edmonton Oilers (+800), Stars (+900), Avalanche and Golden Knights (+950 each) are next in line, ahead of the league's opening night on Oct. 7.
