Nashville Predators forward Craig Smith had an absolutely golden opportunity to give his team a win over the Montreal Canadiens in overtime on Monday night, but the Hockey Gods denied him in cruel, cruel fashion.
After dishing to a teammate on a 2-on-1 rush, Smith received a pass back almost immediately with a wide open net just a few feet in front of him. It was the hockey equivalent of a layup, and for a second it looked like Smith was going to to tap in the overtime game-winner. However, the goal light never came on…and it took everyone a while to figure out why.
As it turns out, Smith managed to deny his own opportunity. As he followed through with the shot, the back of his own stick somehow managed to swat the puck out of mid-air before it crossed the goal line. The redirect bounced off Canadiens goalie Mike Condon and was immediately frozen for a stoppage.
As you can imagine, Smith was quite frustrated with his luck. Amazingly, this isn’t the first time that he’s found an incredible way to blow a clutch goal late in a game.
But there’s a bit of a redemption story to be had this time around. The game eventually went to a shootout, and Smith ultimately buried the game-winning goal with a sweet move.
There’s no explaining hockey sometimes.
