GOTTA SEE IT: Girard With The Knucklepuck From Center Ice

The only word I can think of to describe the first period between the Colorado Avalanche and the Carolina Hurricanes is strange.

Really strange.

The less said about the opening goal by Martin Necas, the better. A harmless shot from a not-so dangerous spot hit Alexandar Georgiev‘s blocker, his glove, and trickled in.

The chaos was just beginning.

Necas added two more goals in the first period for a natural hat trick, giving the Hurricanes a 3-0 lead on the Avalanche, who looked like they were in real trouble. The thing is that the Avalanche really didn’t play all that poorly. Carolina had only registered four shots on goal up to that point, but still had managed a three goal lead. Not ideal for the road team, but they kept battling.

Zach Parise added a late goal that looked like something the Avalanche could really build off heading into the second period.

Turns out, they weren’t done.

Seven seconds later. Yes, seven seconds later, Sam Girard floated a knucklepuck from center ice towards Carolina netminder, Pyotr Kochetkov. It looked like the Hurricanes goaltender was tracking the puck just fine with his glove, but he completely whiffed on it, and it ended up behind him. Just like that, Colorado had cut the lead to 3-2 on one of the strangest goals you will ever see.

And as it turns out, the two quick goals were something the franchise had never done before.

Avalanche score twice in a span of 7 seconds, tying a record for the fastest 2 goals in franchise history as well as the fastest 2-goal span since the team moved to Colorado#GoAvsGo

— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) February 9, 2024

Here’s the Girard goal. I have no clue if he meant to do this, but if he did, he’s a genius.

Sam Girard beats Kochetkov from the neutral zone for a BIZARRE goal, Avalanche within 1!#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/ARHPdrWpC6

— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) February 9, 2024