Last night with seven seconds left, Detroit’s Mikael Samuelsson flipped the puck towards the Phoenix goal in desperation. With just over seconds left, goaltender Mike Smith caught it and fired it quickly towards the opposing net. As time ticked down, the puck landed just outside the blue line and skittered toward the crease, crossing the goal line with 00.1 showing on the game clock.
With that goal, which was as entertaining as it was impressive, Mike Smith adds his name to a list that includes some of the best in their generation:
Ron Hextall – December 8, 1987 vs. Boston Bruins
Ron Hextall – April 11, 1989 vs. Washington Capitals
Chris Osgood – March 6, 1996 vs. Hartford Whalers
Martin Brodeur – April 17, 1997 vs. Montreal Canadiens
Jose Theodore – January 2, 2001 vs. Montreal Canadeins
Evgeni Nabokov – March 10, 2002 vs. Vancouver Canucks
Overall, 14 goalies have now been credit with goals, but only the above six (including Hextall twice) have scored these goals by physically shooting the puck down the ice.
With this now occurring for the seventh time in NHL history, all within the last 16 years, it begs the question: is a goalie scoring as exciting as it always has been or is it now old news, since nearly every goalie seems to have the ability to do so?