On This Date in Sports April 11, 1989: Hextall Shoots and Scores
In collaboration with the Sportsecyclopedia.com
Ron Hextall of the Philadelphia Flyers becomes the first goalie to score a goal in the playoffs when he sends the puck into the empty in the closing moments of an 8-5 win against the Washington Capitals at the Cap Centre. The goal was nothing new for Hextall, who a season earlier was the first goalie to intentionally shoot the puck in the opposing team’s net.
Ron Hextall was born into a hockey family on May 3, 1964, in Brandon, Manitoba. His grandfather Bryan Hextall was a Hockey Hall of Famer, who played in the NHL from 1933-1948, with the New York Rangers, scoring the overtime game-winning goal to clinch the 1940 Stanley Cup Finals. His father Bryan Jr. and his uncle Dennis Hextall were NHL journeymen who came into the league with expansion and played in the 1970s. Due to his father’s many moves, young Ron lived in many different NHL cities while growing up but spent a lifetime learning the game at ice level.
After playing with the Brandon Wheat Kings, Ron Hextall was drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in the sixth round of the 1982 NHL Draft. After remaining in the Western Hockey League, Hextall made his professional debut in 1984 with the Kalamazoo Wings of the IHL, moving up to the Hershey Bears, the Flyers AHL team at the end of the season. After spending the entire 1985/86 seasons in Hershey, Hextall got his chance to play for the Flyers the following year. Coming up after the untimely death of Pelle Lindbergh, Ron Hextall again gave the Flyers a goalie they could rely on as he had a spectacular rookie season with a 37-21-6 record with a 3.00 GAA and a .902 save percentage. As a result, he won the Vezina Trophy, as Lindbergh did in 1985 but finished second in the voting for the top rookie, losing the Calder Trophy to Luc Robitaille of the Los Angeles Kings. Ron Hextall would wrap his great rookie season by leading the Flyers to the Stanley Cup Finals where they were beaten by the Edmonton Oilers in seven games. Despite the loss, Hextall won the Conn Smythe Award as postseason MVP.
After getting knocked out of the playoffs in the first round in 1988, the Flyers looked to bounce back as Paul Holmgren replaced Mike Keenan behind the bench. The Flyers finished fourth in the Patrick Division in 1989, posting a record of 36-36-8. After splitting the first four games against the first place Washington Capitals, the Flyers went into the Cap Centre for the key fifth game, knowing the series was on the line. The game was back and forth as each team scored a pair of goals in the first and a pair of goals in the second period to go into the final period tied 4-4. Washington briefly took the lead on a goal by Calle Johannsson. The Flyers who had trailed in the game three times previously tied the game again three minutes later on a goal by Brian Propp. Pelle Eklund gave Philadelphia a 6-5 lead with just over six minutes left. After Kjell Samuelsson made it a two-goal lead with 4:28 left, the Capitals faced desperation. However, the time was running out as they pulled the goalie. With just over a minute left rather than clear the puck, Ron Hextall shot for the open net and scored. It was the first playoff goal ever by a goalie as the Flyers won the game 8-5. The Flyers would win the series in six games and went on to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Patrick Division Finals. However, their season would end when they were beaten by the Montreal Canadiens in the Wales Conference Finals.
Only one other playoff goal was notched by a goalie in the NHL and that was Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils on April 17, 1997, against the Montreal Canadiens. Brodeur is also the only NHL goalie to be credited with three NHL goals.