Nashville Predators head coach Andrew Brunette’s face said it all.
He stared in disbelief after Montreal Canadiens defenseman David Savard scored one of the more improbably goals you’ll ever see that caromed off the glass and into a wide-open Predators net.
The craziness went down just six seconds after Savard’s teammate Brendan Gallagher scored his 10th goal of the year to pull the Canadiens to within 2-1.
On the ensuing faceoff at center ice, Savard corralled the loose puck on the right side, loaded up, dumped the puck into the offensive zone, where it bounced off the glass to the right of the goal and took a timely bounce right into the net as Predators goaltender Juuse Saros stood dead-center in the trapezoid expecting the puck to trickle down in his direction.
Prior to Savard’s goal, the Predators appeared to be cruising to their ninth straight win. They held a 2-1 lead and Saros had stopped 20 of the 21 shots he faced.
It was the second time this season the Predators were victimized by a fluky goal.
A few days before Christmas, Philadelphia Flyers forward Morgan Frost scored an equally awkward goal — also against Saros — in which teammate Bobby Brink passed him the puck from along the boards, the puck then bounced off Frost’s skate as he was tied up with defenseman Alex Carrier directly behind the Predators net, shot up and over the cross bar and then ricocheted off Saros’ back and into the net.
That goal proved not to matter as the Predators ultimately won that game 4-2. Nashville is hoping Savard’s goal will be equally inconsequential. At time of publication the Predators led Canadiens 3-2 in the third period.
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