Home / News / Axel Jonsson-Fjallby scores first NHL goal, gets pie’d in the face by Tom Wilson after the game

Axel Jonsson-Fjallby scores first NHL goal, gets pie’d in the face by Tom Wilson after the game

By Ian Oland and Chris Cerullo

 6 Comments

March 15, 2022 10:40 pm

It took 14 games but Axel Jonsson-Fjallby finally did it.

The Swedish forward prospect scored his first NHL goal against the New York Islanders.

The rookie forward found the back of the net after a gorgeous feed from Dmitry Orlov at the 10:13 mark of the third period. The tally was big; it tied the game 2-2. AJF’s teammates mobbed him along the boards as the flow king celebrated.

Dmitry Orlov started the play by picking up the puck in the Capitals’ defensive zone. He immediately turned up ice to lead the rush. Dima dangled around forward Anders Lee, who was back on defense for the Isles, and fed AJF for the odd-man strike past goaltender Semyon Varlamov.

“I was kind of tired,” Jonsson-Fjallby said after the game on NBC Sports Washington’s postgame show. “It was late in my shift. I just saw Orly get the puck and their guy was a little flat-footed. Orly beat his guy and ended up being a two-on-one. It was nice to finish it.”

Alex Ovechkin retrieved the puck from the linesman by the penalty box. The captain then patted AJF’s head on the bench in approval. Jonsson-Fjallby also got a bear hug from fellow countryman Nicklas Backstrom on the bench during a TV timeout.

“For sure it was a great feeling, especially with the win,” AJF said. “If we would have lost it, it doesn’t really matter, so it was great to get the win too.”

Jonsson-Fjallby scored the goal on the same night Alex Ovechkin scored his 767th career goal, passing Jaromir Jagr for third place on the NHL’s all-time goals list.

“It was super cool,” AJF said. “Ever since I started watching NHL he’s been playing. He’s always been scoring goals. It’s super cool that he keeps doing and keeps scoring goals. Hopefully, he’ll have the most goals.”

After the game, Tom Wilson pie’d Jonsson-Fjallby in the face to keep him humble.

The Caps have had 11 different rookies contribute with at least one point this season. That ties the 1975-76 team for the third-most in franchise history. AJF’s goal was his third point of the season and of his career.

Headline photo courtesy of @pennybacker

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