Somebody get a hack saw. We have a milestone puck that needs to be cut in half.
Late in the third period of the Capitals’ cataclysmic 6-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks, Chandler Stephenson scored his first NHL goal. Rookie defenseman Madison Bowey tallied the secondary assist for his first NHL point.
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Stephenson’s goal came 17:52 in the third period against Anders Nilsson. But let’s not call it a skill play. Bowey grabbed a turnover and pushed the puck up to Jay Beagle who in turn found Stephenson streaking down the left wing.
Stephenson then put a no-angle shot on goal…
And… it went in!
Stephenson’s celebration, along with everyone else’s, was muted because of the lopsided score.
This is the most piddling goal to ever piddle, but congratulations to Chandler and Madison.
Stephenson’s first career goal came after spending parts of three NHL seasons as an emergency recall to the Capitals (14 games). The 23-year-old suited up with Nicklas Backstrom out sick and Andre Burakovsky out with a broken thumb.
Stephenson became the third Capitals player this season to score his first NHL goal.
The #Caps have had three different players score their 1st career goal in the first game they've played this season for the 2nd time in franchise history, per @EliasSports. In the 1981-82 season, Bob Carpenter, Chris Valentine and Mike Siltala each scored their first career goal. pic.twitter.com/VY2nhB27PC
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) October 27, 2017
Stephenson earned the recall after scoring five goals in his first six games of the season for AHL Hershey. That included a hat trick on October 21 against Grand Rapids.
Full Coverage of Caps at Canucks
Headline photo: Rich Lam
