If you expected Tanner Glass to score the first goal of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs ... your name might be Alain Vigneault.
Seriously, more than a few jaws dropped as the enforcer scored a stunning - and stunningly nice - goal against Carey Price to give the New York Rangers a 1-0 lead against the Montreal Canadiens.
It’s only his second postseason tally and Glass only had one goal in 2016-17. His inclusion in the Rangers lineup is almost always the source of derision among stats-minded fans ... so this is likely to prompt some amusing banter on Twitter.
Watch Rangers vs. Canadiens on NBC Sports
Watch the goal in the video above.
Check it out in GIF form, too:
The first goal of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs belongs to Tanner Glass! #StanleyCup https://t.co/9udc0JdZYV pic.twitter.com/saFbtawdzq
— NBC Sports Hockey (@NBCSportsHockey) April 12, 2017
This actually breaks a pattern of fairly well-known players scoring a postseason’s first goal. Nikita Kucherov started the fun last year and Brock Nelson notched the first tally of 2015. Remarkably, neither player is even in the 2017 postseason.
Things got a little chippy to start Rangers - Canadiens, by the way.
Feisty playoff hockey: 40 hits through 20 minutes, 20 per team. #NYR Girardi high with 4, Martinsen, Radulov, Lehkonen 3 each for #Habs
— Dave Stubbs 🇨🇦 (@Dave_Stubbs) April 13, 2017