Bruins forward Austin Czarnik scores first NHL goal (Video)

Austin Czarnik of the Boston Bruins scored his first NHL goal, and he did it against Henrik Lundqvist. 

Scoring your first NHL goal is a dream come true for many players. Doing it at Madison Square Garden on a national broadcast is even better.

But scoring it against Henrik Lundqvist, arguably the best goalie of the past decade? That’s something very few players can say.

Austin Czarnik of the Boston Bruins is now one of them.

While his goal was a bit weird, it’s still a goal, and the first of hopefully many for the Bruins forward. Credit the New York Rangers defense for assisting on Czarnik’s goal by screening Lundqvist to the point where he couldn’t get a good look at the puck. Lundqvist had no real chance at that one, as he couldn’t see it until it was almost beyond him. Despite this, he still nearly saved the shot.

This goal is the first time in a while the Rangers have had the blown coverages and bad defense which plagued them last season. Hopefully for the Rangers, their play as of late is not a sign of things to come.

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Czarnik’s goal came in his third career NHL game and on his second career shot. He originally came from the University of Miami (Ohio), where he signed with the Bruins as an undrafted free agent. In his senior year, Czarnik had 45 points (nine goals and 36 assists) in 40 games. After scoring 20 goals in his first AHL season, Czarnik earned a spot on the Bruins roster following a few injuries. In the AHL last season, he also had 41 assists, giving him 61 points in 68 games.

His goal gave the Bruins a 2-0 lead. David Pastrnak scored the first goal of the night just 10 seconds into the game. Boston’s young forwards have given fans something to cheer for on a nightly basis.