Phoenix Coyotes goaltender Mike Smith joined a pretty exclusive club on Saturday night when he scored a goal just before the final horn sounded their 5-2 come-from-behind win against the Detroit Red Wings.
How much time was left? Less than a second. A tenth of a second, to be exact.
Smith's goal was the first of his NHL career and just the 14th time in NHL history that a goalie has scored.
The last goalie to do it was New Jersey's Martin Brodeur (the third of his career, including playoffs) last season against the Carolina Hurricanes. The biggest difference with that goal is that Brodeur didn't actually shoot the puck into the net. He was simply credited with the goal because he was the last Devils player to touch the puck when a Hurricanes player accidentally shot it into his own net.
The Coyotes overcame a 2-0 deficit on Saturday to beat the Wings.
Even though it's the first goal Smith has scored at the NHL level, he did score a goal in his professional hockey debut in the ECHL (Oct. 26, 2002) against the Dayton Bombers. He also recorded a shutout that night.
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