Asking a hockey player to rank his teammates' goals is akin to asking a parent to pick their favorite child.
Which explains why Caps winger Garnet Hathaway found it challenging to say who had the prettier Game 1 goal, between teammates Evgeny Kuznetsov and T.J. Oshie, both of whom added a pair of goals in the third period Tuesday.
Hathaway was asked for his answer during an appearance with 106.7 The Fan's BMitch & Finlay, presented by Lindsay Volvo Cars of Alexandria. He says there seemed to be an issue with the Florida's goal light lighting up, which made the goals themselves difficult to judge.
"You know the funny thing about it is the puck — you know, from all our goals last night, the puck keeps getting stuck in the net, like somewhat hidden low inside the netting," Hathaway said. "And their goal light doesn't really go on for us. So for every goal last night, the whole bench kind of like paused for a second, and we're like, 'Ah man, that definitely went in, right?' And then people started celebrating and then we realized that it definitely did go in."
Kuznetsov scored after Alex Ovechkin pickpocketed the puck away at center ice, allowing Kuzy an unimpeded shot on goal. Kuzy deposited it in the back of the net to tie the game 2-2 eight minutes and 14 seconds into the third period, the first of a trio of Capitals goals that would salt the game away.
Oshie followed up minutes later, delivering on what Hathaway described as a "Hall of Fame" dish from Nicklas Backstrom.
"But that pass from Nicki to Osh was... I mean... I mean... I can't even explain it," said Hathaway, struggling to find the words. "Like that's Hall of Fame stuff, obviously. Osh's speed to get there, he beat his guy to get there, and then just the poise, the finish. I don't want to pick one. I like Lars' empty net goal as much as all the other ones."
