Ding ding ding! Ladies and gentlemen, we have ourselves a new contender for weirdest goal of the year.
Carolina Hurricanes captain Justin Williams found himself just battling in front of Florida Panthers goaltender James Reimer last night and before he knew it, he was laying on the ground, writhing in pain. This wasn’t from taking a cross-check to the back from a Panthers defender, nor was it from any kind of slash from Reims.
It happened while taking a shot to the dome from his own teammate.
Williams was the recipient of a point shot to the dome last night from defenceman Brett Pesce and based on the result, the Conn Smythe winner probably wouldn’t have changed a thing. The puck eventually trickled in and before he knew it, Carolina was on the board with a 1-0 lead. Being the beauty he is, Williams was asked about the play after the game and took a shot of his own at Pesce.
Guess he wasn’t too banged up so he raises a decent point! Fans had a few jokes of their own about it on Twitter:
This wasn’t the first goal we’ve seen of this kind this season. In fact, the other recipient ultimately got it a little worse. Arizona Coyotes forward Conor Garland was straight leakin’ after taking a blast off the noggin for a goal. His bruises ended up being just a bit more black and blue...
#HockeyGuy
Listen, it sucks (and is straight up scary) to take an NHLer’s shot to the moneymaker but hey, you can’t help but respect these guys for battling near the net. The Canes ultimately won by a single goal in a 4-3 win so Williams should be feeling pretty good about himself right now.
(H/T Michael Smith)
