40 most eye-popping plays of 2016-17

The 2016-17 NHL season was full of wacky plays that many fans had never seen before.
Players prevented goals and scored them into their own net; goalies made incredible saves, then allowed more improbable goals.
Researchers and producers from NHL Network chose their 40 most improbable plays from the 2016-17 season for a special program to be broadcast during the summer. These are the ones they chose.
These are the 40 most eye-popping plays of the 2016-17 NHL season.

1. Nikita Kucherov scores slick shootout goal

Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Buffalo Sabres, March 4, 2017
Kucherov scored one of the most creative and unique shootout goals you'll ever see when he deked Robin Lehner but allowed the momentum of the puck to squeeze between the pads of the Sabres goalie.

2. Ryan Miller dives to rob Henrik Zetterberg

Vancouver Canucks vs. Detroit Red Wings, Nov. 10, 2016
With the Canucks trailing 3-1 late in the third period, Miller left the ice for an extra attacker but quickly reversed his course and lunged like a baseball infielder to rob Zetterberg of a goal.

3. Jiri Hudler scores own goal

Dallas Stars vs. Ottawa Senators, Feb. 9, 2017
The Stars were up a man because of a delayed penalty, and Hudler thought he was making a back-pass to his defenseman. Instead, his pass ended up in the net for an Ottawa goal.

4. Ryan Ellis makes goal-line save in last seconds

Nashville Predators vs. Edmonton Oilers, Feb. 26, 2017
Connor McDavid thought he had the game-tying goal, but Ellis knocked away the puck to save the Predators' 6-5 win.

5. Connor McDavid makes kick pass to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins for goal

Edmonton Oilers vs. New York Rangers, Nov. 3, 2016
Making his first trip to New York, McDavid made his presence felt with this slick kick-pass to set up an Oilers goal by Nugent-Hopkins.

6. Alexander Barkov dangles, but Carey Price makes the save

Florida Panthers vs. Montreal Canadiens, Nov. 15, 2016
Barkov's slick moves work on most goalies, but most goalies aren't Price, who robbed the Panthers forward of the game-winning goal.

7. Matt Duchene flipped by Dmitry Orlov

Colorado Avalanche vs. Washington Capitals, Oct. 18, 2017
Duchene was striding to receive a pass from Carl Soderberg and never saw Orlov, who flipped the Avalanche forward with an old-school hip check.

8. Martin Jones makes save with his jersey

San Jose Sharks vs. Minnesota Wild, March 5, 2017
Everyone at Xcel Energy Center thought Chris Stewart had scored for the Wild except Jones, who had the puck lodged into the collar of his jersey for an impressive save.

9. Jared Spurgeon bats puck into net

New Jersey Devils vs. Minnesota Wild, Jan. 17, 2017
Spurgeon somehow caught the puck, dropped it to his stick and managed to beat Cory Schneider for a Wild goal.

10. Blake Comeau passes puck on a breakaway

Colorado Avalanche vs. Winnipeg Jets, March 4, 2017
Comeau had a shorthanded breakaway yet passed the puck toward Nathan MacKinnon, and the pass was intercepted by Jets forward Patrik Laine.
Watch: Blake Comeau pass puck on breakaway on Youtube

11. Danny DeKeyser scores strange goal from center ice

Detroit Red Wings vs. Tampa Bay Lightning, Oct. 13, 2016
Off a faceoff, the Red Wings defenseman shot the puck into the offensive zone, where it hit the boards and went in off the skate of goalie Ben Bishop.

12. Pekka Rinne's incredible diving save

Chicago Blackhawks vs. Nashville Predators, April 17, 2017
Rinne was nearly unstoppable for the Predators during the Western Conference First Round. He somehow dove to steal a goal from Johnny Oduya.

13. Tom Wilson dives to make save, scores on other end

Washington Capitals vs. Toronto Maple Leafs, April 18, 2017
Wilson stole what would have been the tying goal by Morgan Rielly by sweeping the puck off the Capitals goal line. Moments later, he redirected teammate Lars Eller's shot past Frederik Andersen.

14. Craig Anderson passes it right to Jordan Weal for a goal

Ottawa Senators vs. Philadelphia Flyers, March 28, 2017
Weal baited the Senators goaltender into passing him the puck, and the Flyers forward slid it into an open net.

15. Patrik Laine scores into his own net

Winnipeg Jets vs. Edmonton Oilers, Dec. 11, 2016
Laine scored 36 goals for the Jets in his rookie season; unfortunately he also scored one against Winnipeg during its 3-2 loss in Edmonton.

16. Steven Stamkos scores tying goal from weird angle with 5.5 seconds left

Florida Panthers vs. Tampa Bay Lightning, Oct. 18, 2016
The Lightning center snapped a perfectly timed one-timer past James Reimer to force overtime in Tampa Bay's 4-3 shootout win.

17. Jonathan Quick's snazzy leg save

Arizona Coyotes vs. Los Angeles Kings, April 2, 2017
Coyotes center Peter Holland thought he had a sure goal, but Quick nonchalantly kicked his leg to deny it.

18. Mike Smith's turnover leads to Josh Archibald's easy goal

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Arizona Coyotes, Feb. 11, 2017
Smith couldn't play the puck outside of the trapezoid, and Archibald swooped in to steal it for a Penguins goal.

19. Nazem Kadri scores off Ryan Dzingel's face

Ottawa Senators vs. Toronto Maple Leafs, Feb. 18, 2017
Dzingel made a diving play to keep the puck out of the Senators net, but Kadri took the puck from behind the goal and shot it in off Dzingel's face.

20. Patrik Laine scores in OT after Auston Matthews is stopped

Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Winnipeg Jets, Oct. 19, 2016
In the much-anticipated Matthews vs. Laine meeting, the Jets forward capped a hat trick with a wrist shot against Toronto goalie Frederik Andersen seconds after Matthews was stopped on a breakaway by Winnipeg goalie Michael Hutchinson.

21. Loui Eriksson scores own goal

Calgary Flames vs. Vancouver Canucks, Oct. 15, 2016
Eriksson scored in his Canucks debut, it just happened to be for the wrong team.

22. Alex Galchenyuk gets stick stuck in Matthew Tkachuk's visor

Montreal Canadiens vs. Calgary Flames, March 9, 2017
Galchenyuk and Tkachuk came together along the boards, but the Canadiens forward's stick wound up between Tkachuk's face and visor. Fortunately, all parties were OK.

23. Nikolaj Ehlers scores into own goal in OT

Winnipeg Jets vs. Colorado Avalanche, Nov. 11, 2016
Ehlers thought he was clearing the puck behind his net but instead shot it past Winnipeg goaltender Michael Hutchinson and gave Colorado a 3-2 overtime victory.

24. Jeff Skinner steals goal from Elias Lindholm

Carolina Hurricanes vs. Pittsburgh Penguins, April 2, 2017
With perhaps the easiest goal of his career, Skinner redirected Elias Lindholm's shot on the goal line, essentially stealing the goal.

25. Mark Borowiecki loses skate blade

New Jersey Devils vs. Ottawa Senators, Dec. 17, 2016
The Ottawa defenseman lost his blade midshift but managed to usefully defend, to the delight of Senators captain Erik Karlsson.

26. Alex Killorn scores while falling down

Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Washington Capitals, March 18, 2017
Killorn proved adept at scoring even while flying through the air after being tripped by Capitals defenseman Matt Niskanen.

27. Colton Sceviour scores when Nikita Zaitsev falls down

Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Florida Panthers, March 14, 2017
Zaitsev tripped over himself then fell trying to chase down Sceviour, and the Panthers forward scored shorthanded.

28. Shea Weber's shot snaps Brayden Schenn's stick for goal

Philadelphia Flyers vs. Montreal Canadiens, Oct. 24, 2016
This point shot by Weber was accurate enough for a Canadiens goal and lethal enough to blow up Schenn's stick.

29. Stars can't score on a 3-on-0 in overtime

Minnesota Wild vs. Dallas Stars, Jan. 24, 2017
After Wild forward Charlie Coyle fell down, the Stars were gifted a 3-on-0 against Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen yet somehow failed to come away with even a shot on goal.

30. T.J. Oshie breaks water bottle with goal

Los Angeles Kings vs. Washington Capitals, Feb. 5, 2017
Oshie's fluttering shot put the Capitals ahead 4-0 but also destroyed the water bottle behind goalie Peter Budaj.

31. Paul Byron scores on bouncing puck for game-winner

Montreal Canadiens vs. Vancouver Canucks, March 7, 2017
Paul Byron's redirection of Alex Galchenyuk's point shot made a right turn and bounced in for the game-winner for the Canadiens.

32. Sidney Crosby scores off Antti Niemi's back

Dallas Stars vs. Pittsburgh Penguins, Dec. 1, 2016
Crosby showed off his hand-eye coordination by batting the puck out of midair and off Niemi.

33. Darnell Nurse scores off Connor McDavid feed

Edmonton Oilers vs. Winnipeg Jets, Oct. 23, 2016
After Nurse was done serving a cross-checking penalty, he left the penalty box, took a perfect pass from McDavid, and scored against the Jets.

34. Cory Schneider's misplay gives Connor Brown an easy goal

Toronto Maple Leafs vs. New Jersey Devils, Jan. 6, 2017
Schneider's stickhandling cost him; the Devils goaltender bobbled the puck just as Brown was moving in to give the Maple Leafs an easy goal.

35. Jayson Megna slams on brakes for goal

Vancouver Canucks vs. Columbus Blue Jackets, Feb. 9, 2017
Megna flew in with speed but stopped and roofed the puck past Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.

36. Ondrej Palat misses wide-open net

Carolina Hurricanes vs. Tampa Bay Lightning, March 1, 2017
Kucherov put the puck on a tee for Palat, who shot the puck past Hurricanes goaltender Eddie Lack.

37. Ryan McDonagh's kick save for Metropolitan vs. Pacific

NHL All-Star Game, Jan. 29, 2017
McDonagh stuck out his right leg to deny Ryan Kesler the game-tying goal and help the Metropolitan Division earn a 4-3 win against the Pacific Division in the final.

38. Tyler Graovac, Francois Beauchemin shoot puck through camera holes in glass

Florida Panthers vs. Minnesota Wild, Dec. 14, 2016
Colorado Avalanche vs. Detroit Red Wings, March 18, 2017
Two plays you wouldn't expect to see in a lifetime somehow happened twice in the same season when Graovac of the Wild and Beauchemin of the Avalanche each shot the puck through a camera hole in the glass.

39. Brian Gionta heads puck into zone

Ottawa Senators vs. Buffalo Sabres, Feb. 4, 2017
Gionta used his head to help the Sabres enter the offensive zone, knocking in a Rasmus Ristolainen pass with his noggin.

40. Tyler Johnson fan catches Johnson's stick

Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Philadelphia Flyers, Nov. 19, 2016
Josh Kerr, a Lightning fan from Philadelphia who wore the jersey of Johnson, caught one of Johnson's sticks that was knocked out of his hands and over the glass during the third period of Tampa Bay's road game.