The Colorado Avalanche had been on the ice at the United Center for 57 seconds on Monday when Cale Makar found himself chasing a puck toward his own net, having put it there himself.
Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Wyatt Kaiser shot from the point. Makar deflected it between the hash marks, the puck trickled away from him and started rolling the wrong way, and Mackenzie Blackwood had no idea where it had gone after the original shot.
What followed was several seconds of the reigning Norris Trophy winner swiping at a bouncing puck and failing to catch up with it. It crossed the line at walking pace.
Nobody has stopped watching it since.
“The most impressive own goal I’ve ever seen,” one fan wrote.
“Dangled his own goalie,” said another, while a third noticed the posture Makar ended up in: “With the classic Bobby Orr photo finish, too.”
“I may or may not have watched this on repeat at least four or five times just for my own sick enjoyment,” somebody else admitted. One offered a note of genuine appreciation: “Actually a really good tip though.”
Monday night at the United Center:
| Category | Detail |
|---|---|
| Time of the own goal | 0:57, first period |
| Chicago’s lead by 7:05 | 2-0 |
| Final score | Colorado 5-2 |
Who gets credit for an own goal in the NHL?
Hockey has no own-goal column, unlike most sports where this sort of thing happens. The goal is awarded to whichever opposing player touched the puck last, which in this case means Kaiser has a goal on his record he barely had to work for, and Makar’s contribution to it disappears from the books entirely.
Colorado’s evening got worse before it got better. Roman Kantserov made it 2-0 at 7:05 after Connor Bedard sprung him on a two-on-one, and the Denver Post noted it felt very much like the three straight road defeats that preceded this one.
Then Nazem Kadri and Jaden Schwartz scored twice each and the Avalanche won 5-2, taking their winning run to three. T.J. Hughes recorded his first multi-point game with two assists and Blackwood finished with 21 saves.
Makar, for what it’s worth, had four assists on Saturday against Calgary. He is still comfortably the best defenseman in the world.
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