Igor Shesterkin turned a 5-1 Rangers win over the Tampa Bay Lightning at Madison Square Garden into a goaltending entry for the books Thursday, firing the puck into an empty net with 2:34 left in the third period.
- Shesterkin became the 18th NHL goalie credited with a goal.
- Goaltenders have combined for 21 NHL goals: 19 in the regular season and two in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
- Twelve came on direct shots into an empty net. Ron Hextall remains the only goalie to do it twice.
- Nine others were awarded when a goalie was the last teammate to touch the puck before an opponent sent it into his own vacant cage.
John Carlson’s attempted stretch pass for Tampa Bay was knocked into the corner, then bounced back toward the Rangers crease. Shesterkin moved onto it, dropped to one knee and sent a high clearing shot the length of the ice. The puck came down above the high slot and slid inside the left post.
Shesterkin’s finish is the latest chapter in a small, strange fraternity of NHL goal scorers.
Ilya Sorokin joined it for the New York Islanders on March 1, 2025, against Nashville. Sorokin stopped Jonathan Marchessault late, and after Steven Stamkos sent a pass out of the zone and into the Predators’ empty net, Sorokin received the goal with 12 seconds remaining.
Alex Nedeljkovic did it himself for Pittsburgh at Buffalo on Jan. 18, 2025. He collected a dump-in behind his net and drove the puck down ice. It took three hops before reaching the empty Sabres net with 2:42 to play. Nedeljkovic made 40 saves and became the first NHL goalie to record both a goal and an assist in one game. He had already scored twice in the AHL and once in the ECHL.
Minnesota’s Filip Gustavsson scored against St. Louis on Oct. 15, 2024, after catching Pavel Buchnevich’s neutral-zone slapper. Gustavsson put the puck down, went to a knee and launched it the full length into an empty Blues net with nine seconds left. He stopped 27 shots in a 4-1 Wild victory.
Tristan Jarry scored from his Pittsburgh crease against Tampa Bay on Nov. 30, 2023, after making a save and lifting a shot into the open net. His 4-2 win also included 39 saves. The shot reached 55.76 mph, traveled 148.7 feet through the air and peaked at 16.4 feet above the ice.
Linus Ullmark’s goal for Boston in Vancouver on Feb. 25, 2023, sealed a 3-1 Bruins win. Ullmark knocked down a dump-in near his left post, set himself and sent the puck over the skaters. It landed above the hash marks and rolled into the middle of the empty net with 48 seconds left. His 26-save night gave him 30 wins for the first time in his eight-season NHL career.
Pekka Rinne scored in Nashville’s win at Chicago on Jan. 9, 2020, controlling the puck behind his goal line before shooting into an empty net with 22 seconds remaining. Rinne made 29 saves as John Hynes earned his first win as Predators coach.
Mike Smith beat the horn for Phoenix against Detroit on Oct. 19, 2013. After a 31-save performance, he sent a final-seconds shot toward the empty Red Wings net after Jimmy Howard had been pulled. The puck crossed with 0.1 seconds on the clock in a 5-2 Coyotes win.
Martin Brodeur’s third NHL goal came at Carolina on March 21, 2013. With New Jersey on a power play during a delayed penalty, Hurricanes goalie Dan Ellis headed for the bench but was still trying to get back when Jordan Staal’s pass traveled toward the empty net. Brodeur was credited with the goal, the only instance in NHL history in which one goalie has scored against another goalie.
Cam Ward was credited against New Jersey on Dec. 26, 2011, when the Devils pulled Johan Hedberg late and Adam Henrique fell while trying to reach an Ilya Kovalchuk pass. The puck continued into the empty net to finish Carolina’s 4-2 win.
Chris Mason’s goal for Nashville against Phoenix on April 15, 2006, was an own-goal credit. Geoff Sanderson put the puck into the Coyotes’ open net during a delayed penalty after David LeNeveu had gone off. Mason had previously been awarded an AHL goal, and Nashville closed that night with a 5-1 result.
Buffalo’s Mika Noronen received a goal at Toronto on Feb. 14, 2004, after Robert Reichel’s pass missed its target and found the empty Maple Leafs net. Noronen had helped the Sabres withstand a late push before the play that ended a 6-4 Buffalo win.
Evgeni Nabokov became the first goalie credited with a power-play goal on March 10, 2002, at Vancouver. With the Canucks’ Peter Skudra pulled, Nabokov drove the puck from his crease into the vacant net to finish a 7-4 San Jose victory.
Jose Theodore made 32 saves for Montreal against the Islanders on Jan. 2, 2001, then shot into an empty net in a 3-0 Canadiens win. It arrived exactly two years after Damian Rhodes paired a goal with a shutout, a feat not repeated since.
Brodeur owns the only game-winning goal by an NHL goaltender. Philadelphia’s Daymond Langkow put the puck into his own net on Feb. 15, 2000, giving New Jersey a 3-1 lead at 9:43 of the third period. Mark Recchi scored later for the Flyers, but Scott Niedermayer added insurance in the Devils’ 4-2 victory.
Rhodes delivered the rare goal-shutout combination for Ottawa against New Jersey on Jan. 2, 1999. During a delayed penalty, Devils defenseman Lyle Odelein sent the puck into his own empty net after Brodeur left the crease. Rhodes stopped 30 shots in a 6-0 Senators win.
Brodeur’s first goal came in Game 1 of the 1997 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against Montreal. The New Jersey goalie, a Montreal native, hit the empty net after Jocelyn Thibault was pulled, closing a 5-2 Devils playoff win.
Chris Osgood scored for Detroit at Hartford on March 6, 1996, sending the puck down ice after the Whalers removed Sean Burke. The empty-net goal completed a 4-2 Red Wings win in a season in which Osgood went 39-6-5.
Hextall broke new ground twice. On Dec. 8, 1987, he became the first NHL goalie to score on a shot, hitting Boston’s empty net in a 5-2 Philadelphia win. Then, on April 11, 1989, he became the first playoff goalie to score and the first to score shorthanded, finding Washington’s empty net after Pete Peeters was pulled during a Capitals power play. Philadelphia won 8-5.
Billy Smith was the first NHL goalie credited with a goal, doing so for the Islanders at Colorado on Nov. 28, 1979. Smith made a save during a delayed penalty and was New York’s last player to touch the puck before Rockies defenseman Rob Ramage missed with a pass that went into Colorado’s empty net. The Rockies still won 7-4, leaving Smith as the only goalie to score in an NHL loss.
