The legend Marc-Andre Fleury started his 1,000th NHL game on Thursday. He is one of the greatest goalies of all time and has become the second-winningest goalie in league history last year. But he’ll definitely want a do-over for the four-digit games milestone on Thursday, as he conceded one of the strangest goals we’ve ever seen, scored by Leon Draisaitl.
The game between the Edmonton Oilers and Minnesota Wild was just 27 seconds old when Leon Draisaitl had possession of the puck in the Oilers’ zone. Draisaitl was probably not thinking too much about it as he, from the Oilers’ blueline, executed a dump-in that initially didn’t take aim for Fleury’s net.
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But all fans could see was Fleury missing the puck, and it going between the goalie’s legs and into the goal. At first, it was difficult to understand what had just happened, even looking at the replays of the goal. It took a couple of alternate angles until fans understood just what really happened.
It’s not the first time a long-range shot like this has been scored, but this one was different. Looking at the replays, it was obvious that Draisaitl really was looking for a cross-ice pass, but after taking a deflection on a defender, it bounced in a way that no one could have foreseen. As one fan put it on social media:
“The puck had a life of its own in the final few feet.”
After the early mishap, Fleury helped the Wild to win 5-3 against the Oilers.
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