List of goaltenders who have scored a goal in an NHL game

Martin Brodeur is one of two goaltenders who have scored one goal in the regular season and another one in the playoffs.

After a seven-year hiatus, Chris Osgood was the first goaltender to score a goal since Ron Hextall did so in the 1989 playoffs.

Jose Theodore, then playing for the Montreal Canadiens, scored a goal and shutout in a 3–0 against the New York Islanders.

Evgeni Nabokov was the first non-North American goaltender to score a goal, and the last to score a goal by intentionally shooting it into the net.

Chris Mason was credited with a goal in 2006.

Cam Ward, pictured here with Frantisek Kaberle in 2008, was credited with a goal in 2011.

Ten goaltenders have scored a total of twelve goals in National Hockey League (NHL) games. A goalkeeper can score by either physically shooting the puck into the net, or being awarded the goal as the last player of his team to touch puck when the opponent scored an own goal. A goal scored by shooting the puck is particularly challenging as the goaltender has to aim for an empty net, six feet wide, at least 180 feet away, while avoiding opposing defensemen; in the case of own goals, the combined circumstance of the own goal itself in addition the goaltender being the last player to touch the puck makes it a very rare occurrence. Of the twelve goals, six were scored by shooting the puck and six were the result of own goals.

Goaltenders have participated in the offense, albeit in a limited way, since the earliest days of the sport. Before the creation of the NHL in 1917, there were some instances recorded of goaltenders rushing down the ice to participate in the play, occasionally scoring a goal. This practice has since been outlawed, after the Toronto Maple Leafs' Gary Smith was injured on such a rush in the 1966–67 NHL season. During the history of the league, there had been some near-misses by goaltenders, including attempts by Chuck Rayner by aiming at the empty net, or joining the attack. In 1977, Rogatien Vachon briefly became the first goaltender to score a goal after being credited following an own goal by the opponent, before it was given instead to a teammate by later video review.

Billy Smith of the New York Islanders became the first goaltender to score an NHL goal on November 28, 1979, when he was given credit following an own goal. Ron Hextall of the Philadelphia Flyers became the second goalkeeper to score, and the first to score by taking a shot. The most recent goal credited to a goaltender was awarded to Cam Ward of the Carolina Hurricanes on December 26, 2011. Evgeni Nabokov is the last goaltender to have scored by actually taking a shot on goal, having fired the puck into the Vancouver Canucks' empty net on March 10, 2002, as a member of the San Jose Sharks.

Technique

Under modern rules, the only realistic chance for the goaltender to score exists when the opposing goaltender is pulled for an extra attacker, leaving the six-foot-wide net at the other end of the rink empty. It is assumed that the opposing goaltender, if in net, would not commit a blunder. Furthermore, the goaltender is prohibited from travelling to the other side of rink; specifically, he is not allowed to cross to centre red line in order to participate in a play, where the position of the puck is prescribed as the "determining factor" by Rule 27.7 of the Official NHL Rule Book.^[1] The result is that the goaltender cannot participate in play in the opponent's zone, and must take a shot from his side of the rink. In practice, a shot from the goaltender is taken from the side of his net, because further travel risks turning the puck over. Due to the distance between the two nets, the puck has to be shot with a trajectory and speed that prevents the opposing team from stopping it while it travels. All NHL goaltenders who have scored a goal by shooting the puck have done so with an empty net; the goals credited to goaltenders that did not shoot the puck were all the result of own goals by the opposing team who had their crease vacated.

Rule 27.7 was instituted in the 1966–67 season, after the Toronto Maple Leafs' Gary Smith had been knocked out by Montreal Canadiens defenceman J. C. Tremblay's bodycheck as the former was crossing the centre red line carrying the puck. Prior to the institution of the rule, the only recorded instances of goaltenders scoring goals involved them rushing to the other end of the rink, and they occurred generally in the early days of ice hockey, around 1900.^[2] Furthermore, prior to 1931, empty-net situations did not arise as it was not customary to pull the goaltender late in the game for an extra attacker in an effort to tie the game up. This technique is credited to Art Ross, coach of the Boston Bruins, who pulled Tiny Thompson in game two of the semifinals playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens.^[3] An instance of an attempted empty-net goal was recorded in 1947, when New York Rangers goaltender Chuck Rayner missed the net "by a whisper" which was vacated when the Toronto Maple Leafs had pulled Turk Broda.^[2]

History

Billy Smith of the New York Islanders, in the 1979–80 season, was the first goaltender to be credited with a goal when Rob Ramage of the Colorado Rockies put the puck into his own empty net.^[4] Smith was the last Islander to have touched the puck, and by NHL rule 78.4, an unassisted goal is awarded to the last player on the scoring team who had contacted the puck, in the event of an own goal.^[5]

However, the participation of goaltenders in offense began long before Billy Smith's goal. The first recorded goal in competitive play, scored by a goaltender, was in 1905. According to a Montreal Star report, poor officiating resulted in only the goaltenders left on the ice in a February 18 game between the Montreal Westmounts and Quebec Bulldogs of Canadian Amateur Hockey League (CAHL). Fred Brophy (Montreal) and Hall of Famer Paddy Moran (Quebec) exchanged scoring attempts, before Brophy beat Moran, while the latter and most of the spectators "convulsed in laughter".^[6] Brophy repeated the feat a year later on March 7, 1906, by skating the length of the ice to score on goaltender Nathan Frye of the Montreal Victorias of the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association (ECAHA).^[2]

The first goaltender credited with an assist in the NHL was Georges Vezina in the 1917–18 season, after a puck rebounded off his leg pad to a teammate who skated the length of the ice to score.^[7] In the 1935–36 season, Tiny Thompson became the first goaltender to gain an assist after making an intentional pass.^[8] During the Second World War, while playing for the All-Star Canadian Army team, goaltender Chuck Rayner carried the puck down the ice and beat the opposing goaltender, Art Jones. In the NHL, he made numerous unsuccessful attempts to duplicate this feat;^[9] as a member of the New York Rangers, Rayner attempted to score both by aiming at an empty net and by rushing down the rink. There are at least two recorded instances of him skating to the other side of the ice after making a save,^[10] and he was experimentally used on the point during power-plays in late 1940s.^[11]

In the 1976–77 season, Los Angeles Kings goaltender Rogatien Vachon briefly became the first goaltender to be credited with a goal when the opposing New York Islanders scored on themselves during a delayed penalty; however, after video review, the goal was given to Vic Venasky as it was determined that he was the last Kings player to touch the puck before it went in the net.^[12] A similar case occurred in 1987 when the Islanders' Brent Sutter scored on his own net during a delayed penalty; the cross-town rival Rangers' Bob Froese was credited with the goal, briefly becoming the second goaltender to have been credited with an NHL goal. Later video review concluded that Froese had not touched the puck at all, and the goal was awarded to David Shaw.^[13]

The first goaltender to score a goal by intentionally shooting the puck into the opponent's net was the Philadelphia Flyers' Ron Hextall, who on December 8, 1987, scored in an empty net after Boston pulled their goaltender, Rejean Lemelin, for a sixth attacker late in the third period.^[14] The most recent goaltender to have scored a goal by deliberately shooting the puck into his opponents' net was Evgeni Nabokov, in 2002.

Of the twelve goals scored by NHL goaltenders, six were shot into the opposing team's net by the goaltender. There have been two goaltenders that have scored and earned a shutout in the same game. Damian Rhodes, playing for the Ottawa Senators, was credited with a goal in a 6–0 win over the New Jersey Devils on January 2, 1999, and Jose Theodore, playing for the Montreal Canadiens, shot the puck into the New York Islanders' empty net in a 3–0 victory on January 2, 2001.^[15] In addition to being the first goaltender to be credited with a goal, Billy Smith was the only goaltender to have scored in a game that he lost.^[15]

While both Ron Hextall and Martin Brodeur have scored twice, Hextall is the only goaltender to score twice by directly shooting the puck into the opponent's net. Brodeur's second goal was an own goal by the other team, where Brodeur received credit for touching the puck last. Brodeur's goal is the only game-winning goal scored by a goaltender.^[16] Hextall and Brodeur both scored in a playoff game as well as a regular season game.^[15] Hextall's second goal is the only goal scored by a goaltender while his team was short handed,^[17] and Evgeni Nabokov's goal is the only one that was scored on a power play.^[18]

Scorers

Key

Name	Nationality	Team	Season	Date	Opposing team	Final score	Notes
Smith, BillyBilly Smith	CAN	New York Islanders	1979–80	01979-11-28November 28, 1979	Colorado Rockies	4–7	OG
Hextall, RonRon Hextall	CAN	Philadelphia Flyers	1987–88	01987-12-08December 8, 1987	Boston Bruins	5–2	SOG
Hextall, RonRon Hextall	CAN	Philadelphia Flyers	1988–89	01989-04-11April 11, 1989	Washington Capitals	8–5	SOG, SHG
Osgood, ChrisChris Osgood	CAN	Detroit Red Wings	1995–96	01996-03-06March 6, 1996	Hartford Whalers	4–2	SOG
Brodeur, MartinMartin Brodeur	CAN	New Jersey Devils	1996–97	01997-04-17April 17, 1997	Montreal Canadiens	5–2	SOG
Rhodes, DamianDamian Rhodes	USA	Ottawa Senators	1998–99	01999-01-02January 2, 1999	New Jersey Devils	6–0	OG
Brodeur, MartinMartin Brodeur	CAN	New Jersey Devils	1999–2000	02000-02-15February 15, 2000	Philadelphia Flyers	4–2	OG, GWG
Theodore, JoseJose Theodore	CAN	Montreal Canadiens	2000–01	02001-01-02January 2, 2001	New York Islanders	3–0	SOG
Nabokov, EvgeniEvgeni Nabokov	RUS  KAZ	San Jose Sharks	2001–02	02002-03-10March 10, 2002	Vancouver Canucks	7–4	SOG, PPG
Noronen, MikaMika Noronen	FIN	Buffalo Sabres	2003–04	02004-02-14February 14, 2004	Toronto Maple Leafs	6–4	OG
Mason, ChrisChris Mason	CAN	Nashville Predators	2005–06	02006-04-15April 15, 2006	Phoenix Coyotes	5–1	OG
Ward, CamCam Ward	CAN	Carolina Hurricanes	2011–12	02011-12-26December 26, 2011	New Jersey Devils	4–2	OG

See also

• List of goalkeepers who have scored in soccer

Bibliography

• Allen, Kevin; Duff, Bob; Bower, Johnny (2002). Without Fear: Hockey's 50 greatest goaltenders. Chicago: Triumph Books. ISBN 978-1-57243-484-4. OCLC 49936232. 
• Duplacey, James; Diamond, Dan (2000). The Official Rules of Hockey. Globe Pequot. ISBN 978-1-58574-052-9. 
• "NHL firsts and lasts—goaltenders to score". NHL. http://www.nhl.com/nhlhq/trivia.html. Retrieved 2008-11-06. 
• Weir, Glenn (1999). Ultimate Hockey. Stoddart. ISBN 978-0-7737-6057-8. 

References