Ranking the Goal Songs of 2025 NHL Playoff Teams

There’s one key reason this song isn’t higher: originality. If you go back and watch NHL highlights from the 1990s or early 2000s, you’ll realize quickly that roughly half of the league (including the next team on this list, for one) used this as their goal song at some point. The Sens get credit for sticking with this song long after it went out of style, but it’s hard to make this choice truly their own as a result.

12. The Blues Have the Urge Goal Song (Let’s Go Blues) by The Urge – St. Louis Blues

This is one of the trickier songs for me to rank. There’s a part of me that wants to move it up at least a handful of spots because I do appreciate the St. Louis Blues picking a blues song. I mean, their logo is a music note, and the team is named after a specific genre, how could you do anything different?

The problem is that the blues isn’t a great genre for what a goal song is meant to be. I do think this song by The Urge does as much with the concept as possible — the pace does pick up as the song progresses, and I appreciate the chime at the end of the public address (PA) announcement that corresponds with the number of goals the home team has scored. The Blues are a team that loves their traditions, so I understand this choice. It just doesn’t move the needle for me.

11. Gonna Celebrate by the Phantoms – Winnipeg Jets

If it were just Gonna Celebrate as the soundtrack to the iconic Winnipeg Whiteouts, the Winnipeg Jets would be a lot higher on this list. It’s one of my favorite goal songs in the league, full of frenetic energy that feels like a perfect fit for one of the league’s more passionate fan bases. It was on full force in 2018 when the Jets rocked this song on their way to the Western Conference Final.

Unfortunately, there’s a catch here. Like the Capitals, the Jets also have a list of individual player goal songs that kick in about 15 seconds after their horn finishes blaring. To add another twist, the Jets’ leading goal scorer Kyle Connor’s personal pick is Hell Yeah by Rev Theory, which was the Jets’ previous goal song before Gonna Celebrate. I already discussed my gripes with individual goal songs with the Capitals entry and that prevents the Jets from being any higher on this list.

10. Montreal Canadiens Goal Song by Twilight Trio – Montreal Canadiens

Twilight Trio must have had a hard time picking a side in the 1993 Stanley Cup Final. That said, they did a much better job with this custom Montreal Canadiens song that debuted about seven years ago. There’s a lot more power to it than the Kings’ counterpart, with the “hey” chant much more noticeable than it is for Los Angeles. The “Go Habs Go” chant isn’t much different than the one in Florida’s song, but it even sounds better thanks to the livelier beat.

Montreal has had a lot of good goal songs in the past, with the classic Le But (Allez Montreal) shifting from goal song to win song duties once this debuted. The Habs will be looking to upset the Washington Capitals as the second wild-card team but have a 3-1 series deficit, just as they did in 2010 when their goal song was Vertigo by U2.

9. Panama by Van Halen – Toronto Maple Leafs

For the last two years, the Toronto Maple Leafs have had two primary goal songs depending on the game, a bold approach I can’t remember any other team attempting. Last year, the Maple Leafs strictly used Panama by Van Halen against Original Six opponents, including their first-round series against the Boston Bruins. Even though they’re playing Ottawa to open this year’s playoffs, Panama is still the song of choice, just as it was when the teams played in the regular season.

That said, I sincerely hope the Maple Leafs don’t default back to their other song if they advance further in the playoffs. Panama is by far the superior option thanks to a steady but potent mix with a couple of great crescendos — a sneaky good “ooh” early in the song and the transition from a guitar beat to the repeating shout of “Panama” in varying forms. I was a fan of Toronto using You Make My Dreams by Daryl Hall and John Oates from 2018-23, but for those who didn’t appreciate the flair of that throwback choice, Panama offers nostalgia in a more traditional goal song package.

8. Puck Off by Pantera – Dallas Stars

A lot of goal horn and song ranking videos over the years have had the Dallas Stars at or very close to the top of their listings. Personally, I’ve never bought it. Don’t get me wrong — in addition to having a fantastic name, Puck Off is a loud, electric song that carries throughout an arena better than most other teams’ choices. And I love how the Stars blast their horn once for every goal scored, especially given the team’s strong forward core can easily ratchet up the number of pulses on any given night.

However, there’s a pretty significant flaw in Dallas’ song. The only words in the song are the team name — it’s just a repeating cadence of “Dallas! Stars!” accompanied by a rock beat. Yes, it does sound pretty good, but I can’t give any more credit to a song with lyrics that honestly could have been created by a five-year-old.

7. Fluxland by Gaby D. Galstaun – Edmonton Oilers

A year ago, I wrote that if the Edmonton Oilers went on a deep playoff run, it could attach fans to this song, which has been previously used by the Tampa Bay Lightning and Philadelphia Flyers (the latter used it in a two-song mash-up). They did indeed get that deep run, but I’m not sure that it changed anything surrounding this goal song.

This is more of an EDM vibe than anything else on this list (that’s electronic dance music, not the team’s scoreboard abbreviation, although that is a nice coincidence). Those types of songs can be very hit or miss, although I do think this one is more of the former.

6. Chase the Sun by Planet Funk – Colorado Avalanche

The Colorado Avalanche have a pure acoustic song, other than a standard “hey, hey!” chant approximately every 10 seconds that keeps the crowd engaged. It’s not a hype song, that’s for sure, and while the beat is honestly kind of funky and maybe even a bit mysterious, it’s up-tempo enough to prevent it from being dull. I might even call it catchy.

The Avalanche also rises on this list thanks to the exchange between the PA announcer and the crowd of “woot, woot!” after they finish announcing every goal. Crowd interaction is a key part of having a truly elite goal song (or goal routine, in this case), as many of the top five teams will show.

5. Howl by The Gaslight Anthem – New Jersey Devils

Another goal song that’s been in it for the long haul, the New Jersey Devils have been rocking this tune for about a decade now, including each of their last three playoff appearances. There’s a nice ring to this choice that carries throughout the song, which lyrically isn’t anything too special, with an “Aayyy” that carries for much of the chorus.

This is also the first choice on this list that gets credit for being a pretty good song in general, independent of the part that plays after the Devils light the lamp. The Gaslight Anthem is a local group, too, which buys even more credit for this song. Unfortunately, the injury-depleted Devils may have to wait until the fall to hear it again.

4. Goons by Mona – Tampa Bay Lightning

After a few seasons using Fluxland, the Tampa Bay Lightning haven’t looked back since making this their goal song in 2017-18. Released in 2013, you can find the specific version that the Lightning uses on Apple Music, with the album cover even featuring a blue lightning bolt. It’s an upgrade, in my opinion, with Goons a much more high-energy selection that also is better for fan engagement with the “woo” chants in the middle, not to mention the main chorus is pretty catchy, too.

The big selling point for Lightning goals is their Tesla Coils, which are used to create a lightning-like buzzing sound effect every time the home team scores. It’s probably the most unique feature of any team’s goal song across the entire league. It’s fitting that a top-tier team like the Lightning even takes their goal song to the next level.

3. Raise Up by Petey Pablo – Carolina Hurricanes

It’s lost some of the unique soundbites that it previously had over the years, but the base song itself is still absolutely fantastic. It’s no coincidence the Carolina Hurricanes became a legitimate threat immediately after adopting this song in 2018-19, when they snapped a decade-long playoff drought. They haven’t missed since, which has led to this 2001 hit by North Carolina native Petey Pablo playing after numerous big goals, with Pablo himself in the building for Game 1 of this year’s playoffs.

The electricity in the building when this song goes off is as good as it gets. While I don’t think most fans take the “take your shirt off, twist it ’round your head, spin it like a helicopter” line completely literally, rally towels make for a find substitute, not to mentioning the following “this one’s for who? Us-us-us” line is easy to scream at the top of your lungs. Hurricanes fans are hoping this will finally be the year when they get to shout it after a game-winning goal in the Eastern Conference Final.

2. Vegas Lights by Panic! at the Disco – Vegas Golden Knights

This is only the third year I’ve done this list, but there hasn’t been a season since the Vegas Golden Knights entered the league in 2017-18 that they wouldn’t rank in the top three (outside of 2022, their lone playoff miss). There simply isn’t a better song that Vegas could have chosen. City name in the song, which is entirely about the city itself: check. Local band singing it: check. Crowd chants for the fans: triple check. It’s the total package.

It doesn’t even slow down after the fact, with cash register and slot machine sound effects accompanying the PA announcement of the goal scorer and assisting players. Not to mention, there have been countless big goals that have followed it, including a record-tying nine goals for a Stanley Cup-winning game back in 2023. The last time that happened was back in 1942, and I think it’s safe to assume that year’s Maple Leafs team didn’t have nearly as good of a goal song as Vegas.

1. Shout by The Isley Brothers – Minnesota Wild

For me, energy is the most important part of a goal song. You need to not just harness the excitement of your 20,000 fans or so after a big moment, but expand it. And it’s hard to think of any song that could do that better than the lightning-fast tempo of Shout, a classic dance-along song that the Minnesota Wild have used over the last few seasons. It’s the definition of electric and has that special “I want to run through a wall” buzz that playoff hockey is so well known for.

Wild fans have been lucky to have a lot of good music to hear after goals for the last decade-plus. Crowd Chant by Joe Satriari was very good, although they had to share that with the New York Islanders. Switching to Prince’s Let’s Go Crazy after he passed away during their 2016 first-round series was the right call at the time, as was switching it to their win song after a few seasons.

What Could Have Been

Minnesota’s goal song might be the best in the league, but there are a couple of other top-tier choices that didn’t make the playoff field. That includes last year’s top two songs, Slapshot by Ray Castoldi (New York Rangers) and Kernkraft 400 by Zombie Nation (Boston Bruins), as both teams surprisingly fell out of the playoff picture.

In fact, each of the top four songs on our site-wide rankings belongs to teams that didn’t miss the playoffs. So, if you were hoping your team could turn its fortunes simply by picking a new song, that’s sadly not the case. But it certainly helps to have a banger on queue when things do improve.