Christmas came early for hockey fans with a highlight-reel night before the NHL’s three-day break. Saturday’s slate of games saw not one but two players pull off a lacrosse-style goal within mere hours of each other.
Rookie phenom Connor Bedard started the festivities with an impressive tally for the Chicago Blackhawks before noted Michigan fiend Trevor Zegras repeated the feat for the Anaheim Ducks.
If we had a nickel for every time a lacrosse style goal was scored on December 23rd, 2023 we would have two nickels. That’s not a lot, but it’s funny that it happened twice. pic.twitter.com/EPNNHRZ6sw
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) December 24, 2023
Bedard’s outrageous tally came less than five minutes into the contest. After his initial shot attempt went wide, Bedard picked up a pass from Philipp Kurashev behind the net before scooping up the puck and sending it over his shoulder past St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington.
In 33 games so far, Bedard has now scored 13 goals his rookie season. His 30 total points so far (13g, 17a) ranks first on the Blackhawks, leading the next-closest player by 11 points.
Wayne Gretzky happened to see Bedard’s Michigan goal live, watching the game in-person from the Enterprise Center. The Great One admitted to Bally Sports Midwest’s Andy Strickland that the lacrosse-style goal was something even he could not accomplish.
“I couldn’t do what he did tonight,” Gretzky said. “That just wasn’t in my repertoire. I didn’t have the right kind of curve. Hully (Brett Hull) could do it. I could never do what he did tonight. It was fun to watch.
“My daughter Emma’s with me and she goes, ‘Dad, did you ever do that?’ I said, ‘No, I could never do that.'”
CONNOR BEDARD MICHIGAN GOAL ‼️ ARE YOU SERIOUS pic.twitter.com/pALY5tVXFo
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) December 24, 2023
Barely two hours later, Zegras earned a stunner of his own against the Seattle Kraken. The play began as Ducks blueliner Pavel Mintyukov brought the puck into the zone, passing it back to Zegras at the right faceoff circle. Zegras skated around the back of the net, lobbing it behind Kraken netminder Joey Daccord and in.
Saturday night’s tally marks the third Michigan of Zegras’ career, more than any other NHL player. He also teamed up with then-Duck Sonny Milano in December 2021, sending a lacrosse-style pass to Milano for the iconic “Dishigan” goal.
“I wasn’t thinking a whole lot, to be completely honest,” Zegras told Bally Sports West’s Aly Lozoff postgame. “Usually when I do that, not a lot goes through my mind. Lucky enough I got it up pretty quick and it stuck on my stick, so lucky enough that it went in.”
Zegras hadn’t heard of Bedard’s goal during the game, learning of the Michigan doubleheader only later in the night.
“I had no idea,” he said. “We were playing, so.”
Returning from a 20-game absence due to injury, Zegras had a gut feeling that he would pull off the trick shot in his first game back.
“I told [Jamie Drysdale] I was going to do it, that’s all I’m going to say,” he said.
With the NHL holiday break beginning Sunday, all 32 teams will be off until December 27. But with highlight reels like these, there’ll be plenty of hockey to watch in the meantime.
Screenshots via NHL/Youtube
