When you are watching NHL matches, you can be surprised by how many impressive goals you may see. But some of these goals may be not only beautiful but also unique which can create a new style of goals. As a result of that, we decided to recall the most innovative goals in NHL history. We contacted 13 NHL writers asking them to name their favorite unique goals. We didn’t include some iconic goals to this list because everyone remembers them anyway and not all of them happened in NHL (for example, the way Bobby Orr won Stanley Cup in 1970).
Nowadays, we can see multiple new skills and styles, and hockey players are incredibly talented, so probably we will see innovative goals really soon. However, here is the list of the ones that already happened in NHL history.
10. “The Forsberg» style (Forsberg and Tarasenko).
This is the famous style that was created because of the unique goal of Peter Forsberg in the 1994 Olympic Games. This move can be explained like this: a player is going one way while and then throws the puck past the goalie on the far side using one hand.
This move became popular, so many hockey players were trying to do it but Vladimir Tarasenko probably made it in the most cunning way.
9. The “Omark flip» style (Datsyuk).
Linus Omark (Swedish hockey player) was the first player who made the flip goal (2010), that’s why it is known as «Omark flip». However, Pavel Datsyuk was the first one who performed that style in a beautiful way in NHL and no one could do it again since that time.
A player should have experience and impressive skills to be able to do the flip, and Pavel definitely is a professional.
8. «Between-the-legs» style (Malik).
Marek Malik wasn’t the most famous hockey player; he made only 27 goals although he was participating in 488 NHL matches. But there is one thing that makes him popular: he made an impressive goal throwing the puck through the legs of Olaf Kolzig in 2005. As a result, that goal became one of the most famous ones, as a result of which such style became really popular among many players.
7. Juggling and batting the puck (Crosby).
It’s obvious that Sidney Crosby would be on this list, as his technique and talent are incredible. He was playing against the Canadians in 2018 when he made a beautiful goal batting the puck just like he was playing baseball. Sidney made 2 more goals like this later.
6. Dropping the puck to the skate on high speed (Bure).
Pavel Bure is a legend, as his technique and professionalism are impossible to describe. But one more impressive feature of his playing style is fast speed. Pavel surprised everyone during the match against the Bruins in the 1996 – 1997 season when he came back to hockey after serious injuries. Pavel was skating on the fastest speed, blew past Ray Bourque (who was also a professional and famous player) and then he didn’t blow past the goalie, although that is what everyone was expecting to see. Instead, Bure dropped the puck to his skate, kicked it back to the stick and threw it in. Such a goal looked incredible because of the speed, and no one saw anything like this anymore.
5. Sliding across the whole team of opponents (Savard).
Denis Savard was skating just trying to buy time and unexpectedly created a beautiful goal that will never be forgotten since 1988. Denis was going through half of the competitors skating with an impressive style and accuracy. No one could stop him, and in the end, Savard just scored an important goal.
4. Overplaying everyone and doing a backhand (Jagr).
Jaromir Jagr impressed everyone including the audience and the players by scoring such a beautiful goal in 1992. He overplayed Brent Sutter in a serious fight, then he easily got through Dirk Graham and scored a goal using a backhand. Many people agreed that that goal was probably the best one in the history of the playoffs.
3. Decking while sliding (Lemieux).
Mario Lemieux created a surprising goal during the Stanley Cup Final in 1991. Mario achieved a high speed coming from the neutral zone and made an accurate work getting the puck through the opponent’s legs and not allowing another one to get this puck. He simply got through those opponents and scored a goal, as a result of which the Penguins won their first Stanley Cup, and Mario got Conn Smythe honors.
2. “The Michigan” lacrosse style (Svechnikov and Forsberg).
Mike Legg was the first hockey player who made a goal using lacrosse skills when he was playing for the University of Michigan. Many players were impressed and tried to do the same, but only after 23 years this goal finally happened in NHL. Svechnikov made such a goal in October of 2019, then did that thing again, as a result of which many fans named that style «The Svech», however, Forsberg also started to use this style successfully.
1. “The Goal” on the back (Ovechkin).
Here is the most famous goal of NHL history, as everyone is talking about it since 2006. Alexander Ovechkin wasn’t the most famous player at that time but that goal made him more popular. He got to an attacking zone and tried a toe-drag in the slot but something went wrong and he fell. But he was still controlling the puck as he rolled on the back, and, finally, he made that unique goal. Alexander says he was just really lucky but almost everyone is still talking about that moment naming it as «The Goal» as it became legendary.
We wanted to mention some other goals but the article was only about the top 10 goals. However, you still can check other impressive NHL moments.
For example, Matthew Tkachuk made an unforgettable between-the-legs goal falling on one knee.
Nikita Kucherov made an impressive goal in 2017. Its uniqueness is connected with the fact that Nikita was faking that he was going to make another move while the puck was getting to the net. He made several goals like this several times more.
Valeri Kamensky made a spin-o-rama goal in 1997: he made a beautiful pirouette, launched into the air, and made a backhand.
There are also many impressive goals that happened in other hockey leagues, and it is obvious that one day we will see something like this in NHL.
For example, Eliezer Sherbatov’s team was winning with a 26-2 score, and he decided to do some creative things. So Eliezer pulled the puck, threw it into the air, and batted it.
Oscar Milton was just 17 and he was playing for Sweden when he made a beautiful surprising goal. He spent a lot of time behind the net and suddenly threw the puck up and off the goalie’s back.
We also highly recommend to check the Jai Alai goal made by Rob Schremp.
Nikita Gusev also scored a breathtaking goal using lacrosse in combination with spin-o-rama in a high speed; can you imagine?
It’s impossible to predict when such situations will happen in NHL but we hope we’ll be able to see them soon.
