Friday Poll: Best goal of the season

Finding our favorite goal of the 2023-24 season

We’ll take inspiration from the Penguins’ countdown of the top goals in 2023-24 to see which one is most liked.

Here’s some details if you can’t watch the video for some reason.

#5: A Rusty Wraparound. With time dwindling down in OT, Bryan Rust lifted the Penguins to a win on the road in Los Angeles back on November 9th. It’s not a top goal because it’s pretty or tremendously skillful, but more about what it represented at the time. Pittsburgh completed a 3-0-0 California road trip to get their record back up to .500 (6-6-0). The Kings entered the game as one of the top teams in the NHL with a 7-2-2 record. Pittsburgh was also down to playing their third string goalie, Magnus Hellberg, due to Tristan Jarry and Alex Nedeljkovic being unavailable. Against those long odds, Rust’s goal gave the Pens a big shot in the arm with the GWG.

#4: Dipsy-do dunkeroo for Letang. The score was already 5-1 on November 4th, the Penguins were putting it to the San Jose Sharks in what would be the highest-scoring game for Pittsburgh of the season. So this goal doesn’t make the list for importance but sheer beauty. Sidney Crosby turns on the jets and has a path to the net, but dropped a backwards pass for Kris Letang. Letang actually had to make a quick move to the backhand to make it look like an easy finish and put the puck in the net. 10/10 for Harlem Globetrotters-type excitement.

#3: Karlsson drops the hammer. While the Penguins were making their furious run for a playoff spot late, a huge April 11th matchup with the Red Wings loomed. Detroit got a crucial point out of the game with a third period rally, but Erik Karlsson made sure that Pittsburgh took the two points by smoking this pass from Crosby. It also made for Crosby’s 1,000th career assist.

#2: Crosby leaves a tip. Sidney Crosby makes these plays a habit, but they’re always fun to watch. This one against Colorado on March 24th was a beaut, the captain almost steers and sweeps the shot/pass fired his way into the goal with his patented drop to a knee. From a tight angle the puck jumped right to the top corner of the net too. He makes these routine but they’re still astounding every time.

#1: Jarry’s historic goalie goal. On November 30th, 2023, Tristan Jarry made Penguin history to become the first goalie to score a goal. He was bold in taking his shot with only a one-goal lead and still about 1:10 to play, but Jarry was in the zone that night making 39 saves against the Lightning and his aim was true, easily having the power to make it all the way into the other net.

Any other memorable or favorite goals from this season that didn’t make the cut?