It’s hard to believe that 16 years have passed since Chris Osgood scored his goal.
For years, Billy Smith was the only goalie to score a goal. He was credited on November 28, 1979 with his goal when a Colorado Rockies player sent the puck down the ice and into his own net. Smith was the last Islander player to touch the puck, so he was awarded the goal.
Then Ron Hextall burst on the scene, scoring the first goal that was actually shot on net. He scored against the Boston Bruins in his rookie season in 1986-87.
Amazingly, Hextall went on to score again, only this time in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 1989 against the Washington Capitals. Late in that game the Caps had a power play with an empty net and made the mistake of dumping it in. Hextall corralled it and shot and scored.
The NHL had to wait another seven years until Osgood lit the lamp. His came against the Hartford Whalers.
With 11 seconds remaining in the game, Osgood fired the puck down the ice and into an empty net, icing a 4-2 win. Despite the game taking place in Hartford, the goal threw the fans into a frenzy.
Since Osgood’s goal, Martin Brodeur (twice), Damian Rhodes, Jose Theodore, Evgeni Nabokov, Mika Noronen, Chris Mason and Cam Ward have all scored goals.
The last goalie to deliberately shoot the puck and score a goal, however, was Nabokov, who scored March 10, 2002.
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