TJ Oshie scored one of the weirdest goals of his NHL career on Thursday night.
With the Washington Capitals on a power play late in the second period, Seattle Kraken goaltender Joey Daccord attempted to clear the puck during a penalty kill up the middle of the ice. Instead, he sent the biscuit, well, right into Oshie’s basket.
The puck clanged off of the inside of Oshie’s left leg, Daccord’s stick, and into the Kraken goal. The unassisted tally was Oshie’s 11th of the season and his first since returning from an upper-body injury on March 11.
“Honestly just trying to get in the way (of Daccord),” Oshie said during the second intermission to Monumental Sports Network’s Al Koken. “These are kind of the ones that you watch the highlights the next night and you’re like, ‘Oh my god, I wish I had one of those.’ I’m just trying to get in the way of what he’s doing. It’s kind of a hope-for play. He’s obviously an elite puck-handler when it comes to goaltenders. I’ll take that one though.”
The goal was made even more special by the fact that it came against Oshie’s hometown NHL club. Oshie grew up in Everett, Washington, and played 10 seasons in the Seattle Junior Hockey Association. He even remains a fan of the professional sports teams from Seattle including the NFL’s Seahawks.
Oshie had a host of support in the stands for Thursday’s night game and you could hear that support cheering him on after his goal.
“I’m not sure the exact number, but there’s a bunch of family and friends that are out here that I don’t get to see too often,” Oshie said. “I appreciate them spending their hard-earned money to come out and see me and I’ll get to say thank you after the game here.”
This season’s road matchup with the Kraken is the second time Oshie has been able to play inside Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena. The first came last season after he had tried to make it happen during the 2021-22 season but derailed much of the rest of his season trying to rush back from injury to get into that game.
Had to have it. Got it.#CapsKraken | #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/QNopulBzKS
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) March 15, 2024
The 2-1 victory came as Oshie played in his 999th career NHL Game. He is slated to hit the fabled 1,000-game mark on Saturday against the Vancouver Canucks. The big number milestone is one of the last that the veteran winger wants to check off his list.
“It will be a special night for me, especially with the way the last few years have gone with injuries,” Oshie told NHLPA.com. “In any sport, when you get older, injuries, whether you can play through them or not, become part of your career.”
Thursday’s goal was the 301st of Oshie’s NHL career. He is the third leading goal scorer from the 2005 NHL Draft class, trailing just Anze Kopitar (411) and Sidney Crosby (582).
