Jason Mowry-USA TODAY Sports

Kent Johnson Scores Beauty Michigan on Goal’s 27th Anniversary

Originally posted on Trade Talk Sports | By Jim Parsons | Last updated 3/27/23

In what may have been the prettiest version of the Michigan goal yet — the lacrosse-style goal that became synonymous with his college alma mater — Kent Johson of the Columbus Blue Jackets scored a beauty in a 5-4 overtime victory against the New York Islanders on Friday. The goal came 27 years after “The Michigan Goal” was born by Mike Legg, a 20-year-old who played at the University of Michigan. Johnson, also a Michigan alum, pulled it off in the NHL while on the fly going top speed around the back of the net from the half-wall.

just a kid from Michigan (scoring a Michigan) pic.twitter.com/16Gs0HFT3O
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) March 25, 2023

Only six Michigan-style goals have been scored in the NHL to date and Johnson is among the best at doing the move. He’s tried it at every level of hockey (except when he was in Michigan) and he noted that it was fun to score a goal like that in the NHL. “It’s cool obviously to score a goal anytime in the NHL, especially like that.” He got a kick out of the reaction of his teammates to the goal, many of whom were speechless, even though they’ve undoubtedly seen him pull off the move countless times in practice. He thought it was pretty cool and noted that while hockey is about winning, it can be about stuff like that too.

“The confidence has always been there to try it. It was nice to finally execute it,” Johnson said after the game.

This article first appeared on Trade Talk Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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