Scoring a Michigan goal in the NHL is a huge achievement that only a few players have managed to do. Doing it twice is, well, amazing. Three Michigan goals? That's just crazy. 

Andrei Svechnikov and Trevor Zegras are the only players in the history of the National Hockey League who were able to score this kind of goal three times (at the time of writing of this blog).

The Russian forward for the Carolina Hurricanes and the young American star from the Anaheim Ducks both have incredible skills with the puck, a high hockey IQ and obviously the courage to pull of a move like that. At the same time, they don't forget that hockey is a game, and it should be fun. 

Michigan Goals Scored by Andrei Svechnikov

Andrei Svechnikov: First Michigan Goal Ever Scored in the NHL

The first successful Michigan goal attempt in the NHL came from Andrei Svechnikov from the Carolina Hurricanes, who scored against the Calgary Flames goaltender David Rittich on October 29, 2019. Andrei scooped up the puck and before the goalie looked around, the puck already crossed the goal line.

Andrei Svechnikov Does the Michigan Again

The Russian forward Svechnikov scored his second Michigan goal of his career against the Winnipeg Jets on December 17, 2019, against future Vezina-winning goaltender Connor Hellebuyck. As you can see in this video, the was zero hesitation on his part when pulling out the Michigan.

Three times the charm for Svechnikov

Andrei Svechnikov scored his third Michigan goal on April 9, 2024, against the Boston Bruins and one of the best goalies of the last season in the NHL Jeremy Swayman. Practice makes perfect, and this goal went in and out so quick that the refs had to check it with replay.

Michigan Goals Scored by Trevor Zegras

Zegras Loves These Moments Where Hockey is Fun Again

Trevor Zegras scored his first Michigan goal on 28 January, 2022, against the Montreal Canadiens. He lifts the puck onto his hockey stick (read here how to choose the right one) and tucks it in with a spectacular lacrosse-style move, extending the Ducks lead against the Habs.

Can I Call it "The Zegras" Now?

When Trevor Zegras scored his second Michigan goal, some people started to call it "The Zegras". This American forward managed to scored such lacrosse-style against the Arizona Coyotes. He went for a beteween-the-legs shot and once that was unsuccessful, he scooped the puck up, avoided his team mate who was standing by the post only to tuck it into the net.

2 Michigan Goals in 1 Historic Night of hockey

On December 23, 2023, Connor Bedard scored a Michigan goal for the Chicago Blackhawks in a 5-7 loss to the St. Louis Blues. A few hours later, Trevor Zegras scored a Michigan goal for the Anaheim Ducks in a 2-3 loss to the Seattle Kraken. It was the first time in the history of an NHL that two players scored a Michigan goal on the same night. Be a judge for yourself who did it better.

Michigan Goals Scored in the NHL

There have been eight Michigan goals in the history of the NHL to this date. They were scored by Andrei Svechnikov (Carolina Hurricanes), Trevor Zegras (Anaheim Ducks), Filip Forsberg (Nashville Predators), and Connor Bedard (Chicago Blackhawks). You can find out about the origins, pioneers, and criticism of the Michigan goal in our Rezztek Blog here. 

Source: Fanarch

Who Can Score the Next Michigan Goal? 

There are many players in the NHL who have the ability to score a Michigan goal. The technique alone is not enough; they have to be brave enough to perform this kind of scoring during the game.

If we drop the current players who were able to score a Michigan, we can, for example, find names such as David Pastrňák (Boston Bruins), Mika Zibanejad (New York Rangers), Jack Eichel (Vegas Golden Knights), Matthew Tkachuk (Florida Panthers), Juraj Slafkovský (Montreal Canadiens), Jason Robertson (Dallas Stars) and, of course, Connor McDavid (Edmonton Oilers).

Some players have already tried it and almost succeeded, like David Kämpf from the Toronto Maple Leafs and Jakub Lauko from the Boston Bruins (both are playing with Rezztek®). Sometimes it's about the luck; all the time it's about the timing. 

 Photo Source: ESPN, NHL, The Athletic

Jakub Vaverka

I create content for social media for a living and I live hockey. Going to NHL games and writing blogs about my most favorite game is a dream come true.