It Took Three Days

I will fully admit that I have not been watching a lot of hockey thanks to life being one event after another right now. For as much as I need and want some time to relax, it seems I'm just as busy as I was through the summer. Of course, my drive to watch NHL hockey has been low as I already admitted that I was already disappointed in the NHL in many ways which doesn't help, but being busy virtually every night hasn't allowed me to settle down in front of a broadcast and watch. Last night, though, the NHL delivered one of the things I absolutely enjoy seeing in any season, and all it took was three days into the 2026-27 season for someone to add his name to the NHL history books last night.

The Tampa Bay Lightning were in Manhattan to play the New York Rangers last night, and things weren't going well as they trailed 4-1 late in the game. Lightning head coach Jon Cooper rolled the dice and pulled his goalie for an extra attacker to close the gap, and that gave Rangers netminder Igor Shesterkin the opportunity he wanted.
Igor Shesterkin becomes the 18th NHL goaltender to be credited with a goal as he netted the fifth Rangers goal in a 5-1 victory over Tampa Bay! He also becomes the first New York Rangers goaltender to accomplish the feat while making 24 saves to help New York pick up its first win of the season! That's a solid night by any measure!

What's even crazier is that Shesterkin didn't see the puck slide into the yawning Lightning cage, telling reporters, "I didn't see the puck land so I didn't know can I celebrate or not." Celebrate he did, though, as he was mobbed by his teammates after scoring the 21st goalie goal in NHL history. Officially, Shesterkin's first NHL goal came at 17:26 of the third period to put the Rangers up 5-1. With a goal and a win under his belt tonight, he joins a long list of NHL goalies who have celebrated scoring a goal in a game. They include:

• Billy Smith, NY Islanders – Nov. 28, 1979 at Colorado
• Ron Hextall, Philadelphia – Dec. 8, 1987 vs. Boston
• Ron Hextall, Philadelphia – Apr. 11, 1989 at Washington*
• Chris Osgood, Detroit – Mar. 6, 1996 at Hartford
• Martin Brodeur, New Jersey – Apr. 17, 1997 vs. Montreal
• Damian Rhodes, Ottawa – Jan 2, 1999 vs. New Jersey
• Martin Brodeur, New Jersey – Feb. 15, 2000 vs. Philadelphia**
• Jose Theodore, Montreal – Jan. 2, 2001 at NY Islanders
• Evgeni Nabokov, San Jose – Mar. 10, 2002 at Vancouver***
• Mika Noronen, Buffalo – Feb. 14, 2004 at Toronto
• Chris Mason, Nashville – Apr. 15, 2006 vs Phoenix
• Cam Ward, Carolina – Dec. 26, 2011 vs. New Jersey
• Martin Brodeur, New Jersey – Mar. 21, 2013 at Carolina***
• Mike Smith, Phoenix – Oct. 19, 2013 vs. Detroit
• Pekka Rinne, Nashville - Jan. 9, 2020 at Chicago
• Linus Ullmark, Boston - Feb. 25, 2023 at Vancouver
• Tristan Jarry, Pittsburgh - Nov. 30, 2023 at Tampa Bay
• Filip Gustavsson, Minnesota - Oct. 15, 2024 at St. Louis***
• Alex Nedeljkovic, Pittsburgh - January 17, 2025 at Buffalo
• Ilya Sorokin, NY Islanders - March 1, 2025 vs Nashville
• Igor Shesterkin, NY Rangers - October 1, 2026 vs Tampa Bay

Some quick notes: the italicized goals above were scored in the playoffs. The single asterisk denotes a shorthanded goal, the double-asterisk goal denotes a game-winning goal, and the triple-asterisk goals were scored on the power-play. The Islanders, Pittsburgh, and Nashville have had two different goalies score for them in NHL history. Brodeur and Hextall have scored more than once.

If you're scanning that list, Shesterkin's goal last night was also the earliest goalie goal scored in any season, beating Minnesota's Filip Gustavsson by two weeks! It should also be noted that Shesterkin reportedly scored while playing for Spartak Moscow in the MHL in Russia when he was 17 way back on October 31, 2013. It marked the first time that any goalie had scored in the MHL, and it helped Spartak Moscow down Red Bull Salzburg by a 4-1 score that night.

Now at age 30, the netminder can officially add a second puck to his trophy case to commemorate his first professional hockey goal!

Congratulations to Igor Shesterkin for his historic goal last night, and let me just reiterate that goalie goals at any level are awesome. That's one in the books for the 2026-27 season; how many more will be scored by goalies this year? I'm hoping we get a pile more!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!