A shorthanded goal is one of the most surprising and exciting moments in hockey. Just when a team is worrying about whether they’ll score, the other team makes a mistake and steals the puck. This suddenly puts the other team on the defensive, leading to a numerically superior rush or breakaway. As the puck lands past the goalie, fans get excited and celebrate this little gift.
Vegas Golden Knights fans have experienced this many times as NHL fans. Whether it’s William Karlsson racing across the ice or Mark Stone running through the ice, these are just some of the excitement factors for Golden Knights fans. Either way, Vegas hockey fans get a dose of dopamine-pumping excitement and a little bit of suspense.
“Will the Golden Knights be able to capitalize on their opportunities? Are opposing teams out of gas?”
Whenever such a scenario occurs, such questions arise in the minds of fans. But let’s take a deeper look into this shorthanded phenomenon. Who has scored the most shorthanded goals in Golden Knights history? Who is dominating the leaderboard (trust me, there are several players who have dominated this category)? It’s time to sharpen your skates to find out who is leading the franchise in this intriguing category.
Not surprisingly, two of the “Golden Misfits” top this notable category. If you’re thinking, “Oh, Jonathan Marchessault again. He holds all the franchise records,” you’d be wrong. Instead, it’s the other two stars of the “Misfits” line, William Karlsson and Riley Smith, who top the list. Both players have scored 12 shorthanded goals for the Vegas Golden Knights.
In fact, the category is all but closed. Behind Smith and Carlson is Chandler Stephenson, who relies on his speed to grab turnovers, with seven. Mark Stone is fourth with five, followed by Cody Eakin with four. But Eakin isn’t the most familiar name on the Golden Knights’ leaderboard.
There is a player named Ryan Carpenter who has scored two shorthanded goals in his career with Las Vegas. He is tied for seventh with five others, including Mattias Janmark and Keegan Kolesar. Who is this Carpenter? He played two seasons with Las Vegas, scoring a shorthanded goal in 2017-18 and another the following season. He played last season with the San Jose Sharks, scoring five goals and seven assists.
The beauty of a list like this is you never know what unknown names will show up. It makes quiz night that much harder, and only the most dedicated fans will be able to guess the answers. But even they might struggle with this one without Marchessault at the top. At least we now know about Ryan Carpenter.
