Filip Forsberg showed off some of the breathtaking skill that made him one of the top players picked in the 2012 NHL Draft.
After a faceoff win by Matt Duchene, the Swedish forward skated around the net with speed, picked up the puck on his blade, and shoveled the puck on his backhand past Edmonton Oilers goaltender Mike Smith.
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“It was great, at the time it was a big goal,” Forsberg said to NHL.com. “They were obviously up and it tied the game (1-1). It’s something that I’ve tried a couple of times. It’s cool that it went in, and it would have been a lot better if we would have won.”
Forsberg added, “They had a winger on the wall, which teams usually don’t, and he took off after the draw, so it left a lot of room and I just tried to get it up and off quick and it worked… A lot of players are trying things, and McDavid might be the one leading the charge just the way he plays the game. I think it’s great. It’s not like you’re doing it for the show, you’re trying to score the goal and it worked.”
OMG OMG OMG OMG#Preds | @gohermitage pic.twitter.com/8nPUPKoYki
— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) January 15, 2020
“I thought I played it pretty well; he got lucky,” Mike Smith said. “I mean, I saw him pick the puck up and it hit my glove, then my body. I need to eat a couple more hamburgers, I guess, so I get a little more fat there. It’s fun to watch when it’s not you in net, but when it ends up being you, you feel like more of an idiot. But while we’re all talking about that goal, in the end, it doesn’t matter. We came out on top.”
"I thought we showed a lot of maturity in that 3rd period… It showed a lot about our team tonight."
Smith on the #Oilers protecting their one-goal lead in the final frame & closing out the victory pic.twitter.com/gtK8ph83Og
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) January 15, 2020
After the game, the NHL and the National Lacrosse League joked on Twitter about the goal. The NLL stated that anytime an NHL player scores a lacrosse goal, a lacrosse player has to score a hockey goal.
We have ourselves a deal. 🤝 https://t.co/QfOgUoCIgJ
— NHL (@NHL) January 15, 2020
Forsberg became the second player in the NHL this season to score a lacrosse goal, joining Andrei Svechnikov who has accomplished the feat twice.
Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov has tried to accomplish the move several times during his career but has not been able to pull off the feat. His best try was 2018 against the Rangers.
“When I get that move, I get so excited I forget about the finish,” Kuznetsov said laughing.
Headline photo: FOX Sports
