After registering four points, Evgeny Kuznetsov was rewarded by Washington Capitals head coach Todd Reirden with an opportunity to close out the game while the Los Angeles Kings had their goaltender pulled — their empty net yawning.
During that final third period shift, Kuznetsov had two goals and was looking to score his second career hat trick. Then, in the waning seconds, opportunity struck!
Kuznetsov stole the puck and from center ice he shot at the empty net… with 0 seconds left on the clock.
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Kuznetsov’s shot was immediately waved off by the official. No goal.
What’s notable here though, isn’t that Kuznetsov didn’t score. It’s that one Capitals fan threw his hat onto the ice anyway. That is amazing.
After the game, Al Koken asked Kuznetsov about just how tantalizingly close he was on the feat. He smiled.
“Eh, that’s fine. We got two points. That’s what we need. Like Ovi said, that’s what we need. As long as we got two team points that’s huge. It doesn’t matter who scores the goal. Tomorrow nobody going to remember who score, right? Everybody’s going to talk who win.”
So in conclusion: Kuzy didn’t get the hatty, but he did mistakingly get one fan’s $20 hat.
A good night indeed!
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