Ranking all 18 goalie goals in NHL history

Credit: Jeff Le-Imagn Images

One aspect of hockey we rarely get to see is a goalie goal. When it happens, it’s one of those moments everyone stops what they’re doing to watch. Take Minnesota Wild netminder Filip Gustavsson’s goal last week, which inspired the list. When he scored, I was enjoying a concert, but the second I saw the notification that it happened, I stopped watching for a minute to tell my friend about it and show them the goal. It’s that much of an event.

It’s something that happens so infrequently because of how much needs to go right for it to occur. The goalie needs to be in the right moment at the right time, with little enough pressure that they can take the shot. And then the goalie themselves needs to actually be confident in their shooting ability, so it’s something that doesn’t happen very often.

We’ve only seen 18 goalie goals in NHL history, and today, I’m ranking all of them from worst to best. Let’s begin.

18. Chris Mason – April 15, 2006

The thing with goalie goals is that there are several on which they were just simply credited with the goal after making a save and being the last person to touch the puck before the other team scored on their own net. So how do we rank a goal that the player didn’t even take the shot for? By ranking it based on the quality of the save they made that led to getting credit with the goal.

Among the goalies to be credited with a goal from a save, Mason’s is probably the weakest. Geoff Sanderson fired the puck on net with an unscreened slapshot at the blueline as the Phoenix Coyotes were entering the zone, and Mason was the last player to touch the puck as Sanderson proceeded to make a pass that hopped over his teammates’ sticks and went all the way back into their net. I’d feel bad for putting Mason this low, but, in his own words, “It was a cheesy goal. Someone else should have received it,” so at least he feels the same way.

17. Martin Brodeur (3rd goal) – March 21, 2013

Brodeur has many records to his name – including the most career goals as a goaltender with three. But two of them came from saves that resulted in own goals, so two of them are going to be very low.

In the case of this goal, Brodeur’s save came off a one-on-two scenario where the defenders took care of the attacking Carolina Hurricanes forward, and then Brodeur discarded the puck that was gliding to the net before Jordan Staal then sent the puck into the Canes’ goal. It may have been his record-setting third goal and also has the distinction of being the earliest goalie goal scored in a game at 3:54, but it was definitely his least impressive.

16. Billy Smith – November 28, 1979

Smith was the first goaltender to be credited with a goal in NHL history, and while it’s not surprising that goalies through the first 60+ years of the league never shot the puck on net themselves, it is surprising that it took us until 1979 before a goalie just happened to be the last player to touch a puck before the other team put the puck in their own net. While Smith didn’t make the least impressive save ever to get the goal, it was just a simple slap shot from the wall by Rob Ramage that did it, so it’s far from the most interesting of these types of goalie goals.

15. Cam Ward – December 26, 2011

It’s a bit ironic that Brodeur’s third goal came as an own goal from the Hurricanes, because it almost felt like revenge after Ward did the same thing to the New Jersey Devils the year prior. In this case, Ward stopped a screened wrist shot from Patrik Elias, and as Ilya Kovalchuk passed it to Adam Henrique at the point, the pass was a bit out of reach of Henrique, even with a diving attempt to get in the way, and the puck went all the way into the Devils’ net. Fun fact: on top of having the goalie with the most goals (Brodeur), the Devils have also had the most own-goal goalie goals scored against them in NHL history with two, with this goal being the second of them.

14. Mika Noronen – February 14, 2004

As someone who loves a good goalie goal, I was very surprised to find out that the Toronto Maple Leafs had one scored on them. Not that I was surprised that it happened to them, because it’s very on brand for the Leafs, but because I don’t ever remember seeing this goal. Noronen’s save before the goal is similar to Ward’s, and as much as I’d like to say that I put this goal here because it’s fun to clown on the Leafs, it’s actually because the shot came from a bit closer than the one Ward faced.

13. Damian Rhodes – January 2, 1999

Next on the list of goalie goals not actually scored by the goalie, Rhodes ranks second among this type of goal because he makes the best save out of this group. It’s not one to make the highlight reels, but a great pass from behind the net into the slot left a driving Lyle Odelein with a great chance, and Rhodes cast it aside to lead to the own goal on the delayed penalty. This goal also holds the distinction of being the only goalie goal scored in a victory of 5+ goals.

12. Martin Brodeur (2nd goal) – February 15, 2000

Considering that Brodeur has three goals to his name, and two in the fashion of an own goal, it’s only fitting that he has the best of the own goals on this list. But didn’t I say that Rhodes made the best save? Why does Brodeur get the honour here? It’s because Brodeur’s second goal was a step closer to what we’re going to see from the rest of the list, as his point of contact with the puck wasn’t from a save, but from a defensive play.

Mikael Renberg looked to set up a teammate in front driving to the net, but with Brodeur being well known for being a third defender for the Devils, he got his stick in the way to prevent the pass, and that was the last touch the Devils had before it ended up in their net. Even when he doesn’t score the goal, Brodeur still manages to be on brand with this goal.

11. Linus Ullmark – February 25, 2023

Ullmark’s 2022-23 season was certainly one to remember, as he won the Vezina Trophy while securing the NHL’s equivalent of a triple crown by leading the league in wins, goals against average and shutouts. And the cherry on top to that season was scoring a goal in February against the Vancouver Canucks.

It’s the first goal scored by a shot from the goalie on this list, and it finds itself in last place because it’s a very standard goalie goal. Ullmark didn’t make a save to score, instead getting the puck by collecting a dump-in, and then with little pressure on him from the Canucks, he shot it from a relatively close range without much of an arc to the shot. Still an impressive feat, but not by the standards of the rest of the candidates.

10. Evgeni Nabokov – March 10, 2002

Remember when I said that the Devils had the honour of being the only team to allow two goalie goals by way of scoring on their own net? Well, the Vancouver Canucks also have their own distinction, as they are the only team to have a goalie shoot and score on them twice.

At the very least, it was the two least impressive goalie goals, as Nabokov’s goal on them in 2002 follows Ullmark’s goal against them. Nabokov at least made the save to create the play, and it was a nice catch to boot, but he loses points for hesitating before shooting the puck.

What can I say, there’s something about the swagger of a goalie going for the goal with confidence, but it is impressive that he managed to score the goal without really planning it.

9. Filip Gustavsson – October 15, 2024

Gustavsson is the most recent addition to the list, and what separates his goal from the rest on this list is that he’s the only player to shoot the puck on what is technically an own goal. It’s not at the same level of hilarity as watching a player score on their own net, and it’s not noticeable to the naked eye, but in fact, Gustavsson’s shot hits Robert Thomas in the Minnesota Wild zone, which then deflects it up slightly higher to give it the proper arc to reach the net. Otherwise, the shot may have been too low and might not have been a goal.

8. Chris Osgood – March 6, 1996

Osgood’s goal lands in the tier of goals that aren’t too unique. The only significance it carries in the history books is that he was the first goalie not named Ron Hextall to shoot the puck into the net, but then Brodeur made that less special by joining the list a year later. As far as the goal itself, it was impressive how quickly Osgood fired the shot, but other than that, it doesn’t stick out too much among other goals on this list.

7. Tristan Jarry – November 30, 2023

I’m not going to lie, I completely forgot that Jarry scored a goal last year. It shouldn’t be a surprise considering that he is one of two goalies to score a goalie goal in both the AHL and the NHL (and the only one to actually shoot the puck on both instances). What is really incredible about Jarry’s goal is the arc of the shot, as he manages to get the puck in between the offensive zone faceoff dots before it hits the ice. He also gets the shot off pretty quickly after catching it with his stick, another impressive factor with this goal.

6. Ron Hextall (1st goal) – December 8, 1987

While Smith was the first goal to ever get credit with a goal, Hextall was the first goalie to actually shoot the puck and score. It’s a historic moment in the league for goalie goal enthusiasts like myself, as he showcased that it was, in fact, possible. It was also impressive that Hextall telegraphed it by attempting it more than once, and even though he didn’t even make it out of the neutral zone, he went for it again a mere seconds later and scored. Otherwise, there wasn’t anything truly special about the goal, it just has a lot of notoriety for being the first of its kind.

5. Martin Brodeur (1st goal) – April 17, 1997

Like Hextall’s first goal, there isn’t anything truly special about Brodeur’s first goal in a vacuum. Sure, it came in the first game of the first round of the playoffs, but he wasn’t even the first to do that (more on that in a moment), and as far as the shot goes, it came from on the goal line, which is further than any of the goals. Otherwise, it was a very standard shot for a goalie goal. But what makes this one memorable for me is the call from Chris Cuthbert, and while that doesn’t have an impact on the quality of the goal, it’s a bit of a tiebreaker for me amongst a lot of goals that are very similar.

4. Ron Hextall (2nd goal) – April 11, 1989

Hextall seems to have a lot of the firsts when it comes to goalie goal achievements. Not only was he the first to score off an actual shot, he was also the first goalie to hit two goals, is the only goalie to actually shoot two pucks into the net, and is also the first goalie to score a goal in a playoff game. This goal also came from behind the net, which is about as far back as a goalie can be to score, so it makes it all the more impressive. And of course, there were the stakes involved, as it gave the Philadelphia Flyers a three-goal lead in a pivotal Game 5 to give them the chance to close out the series in Game 6, which they did.

3. Pekka Rinne – January 9, 2020

Rinne’s goalie goal comes at a weird point in time, and is almost forgettable due to how close it was to the COVID-19 pandemic that shut the league down for several months. But despite that, it’s one of the more impressive goalie goals in history. Much like Hextall’s playoff goal, it comes from behind the net, so the distance is already as big as it can be, but Rinne was also the first goalie to arc the initial shot beyond the opposing team’s blueline before it hit the ice. Considering all that, it gets the bronze medal.

2. Mike Smith – October 19, 2013

Smith scoring a goal might have been the least surprising part of his career. He’s a known puck-handler (although it felt like it cost his team more than it helped them sometimes), so seeing him go for a goal felt inevitable. While he didn’t score from behind the net like Rinne, what makes Smith’s goal impressive is that he did with no time on the clock. He catches the puck with just five seconds left, and still has the time to drop the puck, go for the shot, and get the puck down the ice and in the net before the clock hits zero, all while he still had a Detroit Red Wing skating towards him (albeit with no urgency). It’s not often that a buzzer beater on an empty net is interesting, but Smith managed to do that with this goal.

1. Jose Theodore – January 2, 2001

When I made this list, I just knew Theodore’s goal would have to be first. The fact that he is one of three goalies to score from behind his own net puts him high on this list alone. However, what makes this goal even more impressive is that he is the only goalie to score on his backhand. Backhand shots can sometimes be a bit chaotic, especially on a goalie’s stick, so to score with that accuracy from that distance with that kind of shot puts this goal in a class of its own.

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