Nashville Predators goalie Pekka Rinne fired the puck 200 yards into the empty net during the dying seconds of their 5-2 victory over Chicago Blackhawks
07:14, 10 Jan 2020Updated 07:14, 10 Jan 2020
Rinne is mobbed by teammates after scoring(Image: NHLI via Getty Images)
Nashville Predators goalie Pekka Rinne made his own little bit of NHL history on Thursday night as he became the 12th netminder to score a goal in the league during their 5-2 victory over Chicago Blackhawks.
With the clock winding down and Chicago having pulled their own goaltender for the extra attacker, Rinne fired the puck 200 feet into the unguarded net to score his first NHL goal in his 650th regular-season appearance.
In doing so, he became the first goalie to tally since Mike Smith in October 2013.
After falling to a 3-0 first-period deficit, the Blackhawks rallied to cut the lead to 3-2 after five minutes of the third period.
Rinne became the 12th goalie in NHL history to tally(Image: SIPA USA/PA Images)
But Nick Bonino banged one off the boards into the empty net with less than a minute remaining to all but seal the points for Nashville.
That didn't stop Chicago from pulling their goalie again though, and Rinne took full advantage to the delight of his Predators teammates.
Rinne joins Martin Brodeur, Chris Osgood, Evgeni Nabokov, Cam Ward, Billy Smith, Ron Hextall, Jose Theodore, Mike Smith, Chris Mason, Damian Rhodes and Mika Noronen as NHL goalies that have scored.
Brodeur is the only netminder to have scored twice in the regular season, while both he and Hextall have also found the net in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Nashville's win was their first under new coach John Hynes, who replaced the fired Peter Laviolette.
It leaves the Predators on 47 points from 43 games, five points off a playoff berth.