On Saturday night at 8 PM, former New York Islanders forward Kyle Okposo will skate in his first Stanley Cup Final game when the Florida Panthers host the Edmonton Oilers for Game One. Here's a look back at his first career NHL goal.
On Saturday night at 8 PM, former New York Islanders forward Kyle Okposo will skate in his first Stanley Cup Final game when the Florida Panthers host the Edmonton Oilers for Game One. Here's a look back at his first career NHL goal.
On Saturday night at 8 PM ET, former New York Islanders forward Kyle Okposo will skate in his first Stanley Cup Final game when the Florida Panthers host the Edmonton Oilers for Game One.
Okposo, who had been a member of the Sabres since 2016, was on the verge of missing the playoffs for an eighth straight season. At 36, he wanted a chance to fight for Lord Stanley, and Buffalo made it happen, sending him to the Panthers:
Despite failing to record no points in six games with Florida following the trade deadline and just two assists in 11 postseason games, it's clear how much Okposo means to his Panthers' teammates.
After Florida eliminated the New York Rangers after six games, Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov made sure Okposo was front and center for their picture with the Prince of Wales Trophy:
Okposo had a long career on Long Island after being selected seventh overall at the 2006 NHL Draft. He donned the Islanders' sweater for nine seasons with 139 goals and 230 assists for 369 points in 529 regular-season games.
His first NHL goal was a beauty, coming on March 21, 2008, against the New Jersey Devils in his second career game.
With the game tied at 1-1 late in the third period, Okposo took the ice for a power-play shift. After battling in front of goal with Devils' defenseman and former Islander teammate Mike Mottau, Okposo's helmet got knocked off his head.
In today's NHL, Okposo would have to leave the play and go off the ice, but that rule wasn't implemented until the 2018-19 season.
Remaining on the ice, Okposo crept inside the right face-off dot before receiving a one-time feed from Richard Park.
From one knee, the youngster rifled the one-timer high glove side on Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender Martin Brodeur:
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xc7dpEypRuY[/embed]
That goal was only part of the first chapter of the St. Paul, Minnesota native's incredible career.
Okposo's story is still being written, as we will see if Stanley Cup champion" is part of his final chapter.