SALT LAKE CITY — Scoring a goal in the NHL is always a thrill, but which goalies make the celebration a little bit sweeter? FOX 13 Sports asked the Utah Mammoth players: Who are their favorite goalies that they've ever scored a goal on?
"That actually makes me think a bit," said JJ Peterka.
"I don't know, to be honest," added Jack McBain.
"Favorite goalie that I've ever scored on..." said a thoughtful Clayton Keller.
Barrett Hayton said, "Maybe Marc-Andre Fleury. I think he's a legend in the game, obviously. He's a guy I watched growing up and stuff. I watched a lot of Pittsburgh hockey, so being able to score with him was pretty cool."
Keller agreed: "Fleury, maybe. Just a legend of the game. I grew up watching the yellow pads, the whole thing."
Defenseman and Stanley Cup champion Nate Schmidt added, "Marc-Andre Fleury. I never scored on him in an actual game — does that count? I've scored on him in practice."
Fellow defenseman Ian Cole reflected on a fond memory of scoring on Fleury.
"I did score a goal on Carey Price. That was pretty cool, as in, like, you know, maybe the most talented. I have scored on Marc-Andre Fleury quite a few times, too. And that was actually, I would say, probably my favorite," said Cole.
"I played with him in Pittsburgh and then like the year after he got traded, I just happened to, kind of by chance, we played against him three times. I scored three goals. One goal every game," Cole laughed. "I saw his wife after and she's amazing, great lady, and she came up to me and she's like, 'If you ever score on him again, I swear I'm not talking to you ever again.'"
Young talent Dylan Guenther said, "I think guys who have won cups, you know, I grew up kind of watching. Fleury, they were kind of greasy goals; they weren't like nice goals. He'd be the guy."
Schmidt said, "Last year in the playoffs against [Andrei] Vasilevskiy is pretty good. When you score on elite goaltenders, especially as a defenseman, talk about morale, on another level."
Peterka made his decision: "Probably Vasilevskiy. I haven't scored on my German countryman yet, sadly, so I have to go with Vasilevskiy."
Two-time Stanley Cup champion Mikhail Sergachev said, "Probably Sergei Bobrovsky. Ninth game for Tampa, I scored two goals on him. It was obviously a big."
Stanley Cup champion Kevin Stenlund agrees with Sergy.
"I played with [Bobrovsky] and he's a really good goalie, very easy," Stenlund laughed.
Defenseman Nick DeSimone smiled and said, "Oh, wow, I haven't scored many goals. I scored on Veggie [Karel Vejmelka], so I'll take that one."
"Halak, because it was my first-ever goal in the NHL," said Mammoth forward Kailer Yamamoto.
Spicy Tuna, AKA Liam O'Brien shared the first-goal sentiment: "My first goal was on [Ryan] Miller in Vancouver. That was just a special moment all around, so I was definitely riding the high. After the game, it was hard to sleep," he laughed. "Your whole life as a kid you dream about being able to say like, you know, 'I play in the NHL,' and then... you know, 'I scored a goal in the NHL.'"
