The Washington Capitals are dominating, chasing individual trophies, and the Atlantic Division title. The New York Rangers enter the second intermission down 4-1, are playing out the stretch after waiving a white flag on the season, and often look like a mess in their own end.
So, tonight’s game hasn’t exactly been hockey’s answer to “three yards and a cloud of dust.” It’s been more like an arcade-style video game.
But, hey, those video games can be cartoonish fun.
The coolest moment came as Lias Andersson scored his first NHL goal in his first NHL game for the Rangers. You can watch it in the video above this post’s headline. Shots of his family celebrating that milestone goal really make it fun to watch.
Lias Andersson (19 years, 164 days) is the youngest player in @NYRangers history to score in his NHL debut, eclipsing the mark set by Mike Allison (19 years, 195 days) on Oct. 9, 1980 at BOS. #NHLStats #WSHvsNYR pic.twitter.com/rMAvk1nI2G
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) March 27, 2018
Speaking of fun to watch, Evgeny Kuznetsov really embraced the video game mentality, nearly scoring a glorious lacrosse-style goal against Ondrej Pavelec. Sadly, he came up just short:
Evgeny Kuznetsov tries to score a lacrosse goal pic.twitter.com/ipnPIdmOjp
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) March 27, 2018
Retired forward Patrick O’Sullivan explains why such goals are so rare. Heck, attempts are very rare at the NHL level, period:
Personally, lacrosse goals invading hockey always goes back to Mike Legg scoring a memorable one for Michigan many moons ago:
Is that Legg goal burned into anyone else’s memory?
Update: Filip Chytil also scored his first career point for the Rangers, though this isn’t his NHL debut. Still, getting an assist in your third career game isn’t too shabby.
Chytil gets an assist on a Zuccarello goal, his first NHL point. Semi-whiffed shot from Chytil. #NYR down, 4-2.
— Brett Cyrgalis (@BrettCyrgalis) March 27, 2018
The Capitals ended up winning 4-2.
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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.