There were 6,997 goals scored in the NHL last season. 6,549 came in the regular season while the other 448 came in the playoffs. It’s harder than you think to score a goal in the best hockey league in the world. Goals may come in many ways, but it doesn’t matter as long as it crosses the line inside the net.
The NHL revealed the top five goals of the season. I’m not going to spoil who took the top spot as the video is embedded below (other than that he’s known for scoring highlight-reel goals) but I will tell you what took the No. 2 spot.
Rewind to November 3, 2014. The St. Louis Blues were playing at Madison Square Garden against the Rangers. Vladimir Tarasenko just came off the best week of his career where he scored his first NHL hat trick, overtime winner and four-point night the week prior.
Trasaenko decided that wasn’t enough and decided to undress the Rangers defense en rout to scoring his seventh goal of the season at the time. As he entered the zone, Michael Kostka tried to step up to Tarasenko in the zone without success. He blew past Dylan McIlrath before leaving Rick Nash and Nash’s weak attempt at a stick check in the dust before skating towards Cam Talbot. Talbot slid to his right, matching the body motion Tarasenko made. But Tarasenko faked to his backhand, sliding the puck into the net past Talbot that looked just like Peter Foresberg’s Olympic-clinching goal in 1994.
Other nominees include Derek Mackenzie vs Winnipeg, Alexander Semin vs Edmonton, and Tyler Ennis vs Montreal.
