Hockey Things: What Caught Our Eye (Dec. 19)

Teemu Hartikainen's shootout attempt, a goalie goal and a near-goal, and a double hat trick caught our eye this past week in hockey.

Christmas is just a week away, but before Santa Claus climbs down chimneys around the world, the hockey world gave a few more presents this holiday season:

The evolution of the shootout in hockey will always come with players trying to find more creative ways to beat goaltenders. Although Team Finland forward and former Edmonton Oiler Teemu Hartikainen didn't score on this attempt, he went to a place where not many have ever gone before in a game. 

The one-handed drag and shot as if he had the puck on a string like a yo-yo is an unbelievable level of creativity, and I think many would agree we want to see him give it another go. 

This past week saw not one but two goaltenders in the Boston Bruins organization try to score this week. Let's start with the big club as Jeremy Swayman this past Saturday was inches away from becoming the first NHL netminder to score a goal since Pekka Rinne in 2019-20. 

An inch or two to the right and Swayman becomes the first goaltender in Bruins history to score, so it's tough to see that puck go just wide. 

One day later, Francois Brassard of the Maine Mariners, the Bruins ECHL affiliate would make no mistake, becoming the 14th goalie in league history to score. 

You have to also love Brassard going to the bench for the full celebration after scoring.

Three goals in a game? Always a thrill for any player, but six goals? That's territory a player almost never gets to, no matter the level of the game. (OK, Tage Thompson got close.) 

Josh Filmon of the Swift Current Broncos accomplished just that, becoming the first WHL player to light the lamp six times in over a decade in the Broncos' 8-4 win over Edmonton. 

If this happened in Swift Current in front of the home fans, they may have been stumped in terms of what more to throw onto the ice after hats.