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There’s a ton of pressure that comes with being a goaltender in the NHL, and while that job is accompanied by plenty of expectations, contributing to your team’s offensive output isn’t one of them. However, Tristan Jarry managed to help his own cause with the wildly rare goalie goal he scored against the Lightning.
The NHL has existed for more than a century, and prior to Thursday evening, a grand total of 13 goalies had managed to score the 16 goals they’ve been credited with over that span (Ron Hextall and Martin Brodeur each managed to pot a couple before they hung up their hockey skates).
Only nine of those guys actually scored on purpose (a netminder can be credited with a goal if they’re the last person to touch the puck before the other team manages to put it in its own goal), and you probably won’t be shocked to learn all of them managed to take advantage of the empty net that makes the task a bit easier.
Linus Ullmark became the most recent player to achieve that feat when he iced a game for the Bruins last season, and now, Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry has joined that exclusive club in impressive fashion.
The Penguins were nursing a 3-2 lead against the Lightning at home on Thursday night when Tampa Bay pulled Andrei Vasilevskiy to give themselves an extra man on the ice, and Jarry ended up with the puck on his stick in his own crease following a dump-in with a little over a minute left in the third period.
He wasted no time flicking a shot toward the other end of the rink, and he sent a soaring lob across the opposing blue line that skipped into the net to give the Penguins the 4-2 lead as the crowd (and his teammates) understandably went wild.
It took the 28-year-old eight seasons to score his first goal, and he proudly posed with the puck after the contest wrapped up.
Tristan Jarry, NHL goal scorer. pic.twitter.com/pgz68xG2JI
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) December 1, 2023
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