There can be an unspeakable beauty to the game of hockey when it is played at its highest level.
The skill, the speed, the finesse. It can be breathtaking. It will bring you out of your seat and make you want to hug the person next to you, even if it is a total stranger. Those moments are just wonderful.
This Bo Horvat goal for the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night is not one of those moments. Having said that, let’s not pretend it does not have its own type of beauty in just how dumb it is. Because it definitely has that.
What do you even call this? A scrum? A battle? A goal line stand? Either way, it counts as Horvat’s 12th goal of the season.
There is no penalty, no interference, and no whistle here. Just a good goal. A good, ugly, beautiful goal. That goal, along with another great performance from goalie Thatcher Demko, helped the Canucks get a much needed 2-1 win over the Oilers.
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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.