Saturday, 9 December 2023

All-Star Game Goalie Goal

I have always committed to showing goalie goals on HBIC because of how unique they are and due to their rarity, but it becomes far more difficult when you hear of goalie goal scored in a foreign land and there's no video of said goal. In saying that, it's nearly a given that no one in North America cares about what's happening in the KHL thanks to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but the KHL is holding its All-Star Weekend this weekend in St. Petersburg with SKA St. Petersburg as the host. There are a number of familiar names playing the All-Star Game that North American hockey fans will recognize, but does anyone really care?

If the answer is no, we're on the same page as players like Alexander Radulov, Riley Barber, and Dmitrij Jaskin will skate this weekend in the non-competitive action, but the one player who may have made a name for himself was Salavat Yulaev's Alexander Samsonov as the goaltender decided to jump into the goal-scoring action!
With Team Chernyshev leading 3-1 at the end of the first period of play, Team Kharlamov pulled their netminder for the extra attacker in the offensive zone. All they had to do was win the face-off, and they'd likely have the remaining time in the period to try and cut into the deficit. They lost the face-off, though, and, as shown above, the puck was passed to Alexander Samsonov who fired the puck down the ice and into the yawning cage just before the time expired. They did review the goal to be sure, but Samsonov's shot beat the buzzer!

As we know, all-star games are kind to goaltenders, and this 4-on-4 exhibition changed dramatically in the second period as Team Kharlamov found itself down 6-3 with 2:35 to play. That's when Team Kharlamov decided it was time to play, and they rattled off five goals in 2:22 of play to win the game by an 8-6 score. Admiral Vladivostok's Anton Krasotkin did not have a fun period of hockey as he surrendered seven goals in the loss in a game that no one will remember when the 26 year-old's career comes to an end.

Action from the KHL's All-Star Weekend continues tomorrow as the Skills Competition is slated for the afternoon while the four teams playing in the All-Star Game will decide who finishes where. I'll keep an eye out for any other goalie goals, but Alexander Samsonov leads in All-Star Game goals among his netminder peers this weekend!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

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