Greatest Moments of NHL Season … So Far: first round, matchup 4

The 2019-20 NHL season had many incredible moments before it paused on March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus, and now fans can decide which one was the best.

The Greatest Moments of the NHL season … So Far
have been placed into a bracket of 64 entries, and fans will vote on one matchup per day, ultimately deciding the greatest moment up until this point.
Fans can vote on Twitter and Instagram each day from noon until 10 a.m. ET the next day. Each day, the winner of that matchup will be revealed, and a new set of moments will go head-to-head.
Though fans will have the ultimate say, two NHL.com staffers will weigh in on the matchup each day to give his or her opinion on which one should advance to the next round.
In the third matchup Wednesday, Patrick Kane scoring his 1,000th point for the Chicago Blackhawks defeated Tyler Toffoli, then with the Los Angeles Kings, scoring the first hat trick in an outdoor game at the 2020 Navy Federal Credit Union Stadium Series against the Colorado Avalanche.
The matchup Thursday pits Pekka Rinne of the Nashville Predators
scoring the first goal by a goalie since 2013
against the Blackhawks on Jan. 9 against the Dallas Stars' win against the Predators -- and piglet races -- at the
2020 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic at Cotton Bowl Stadium
on Jan. 1

Tracey Myers, staff writer

As great as each moments is, this one is easy for me: It's Rinne's goal against the Blackhawks. I'm choosing this one partly for selfish reasons seeing as I was at United Center that night and got to see it in person. With less than 30 seconds remaining in the third period, the Predators were up 4-2 and the Blackhawks net was empty. Rinne got to the loose puck behind his net and launched it to the other end of the ice. As Rinne raised his arms in celebration, the Predators on the ice came over to hug him. You couldn't chisel the smile off of Rinne's face as he talked about his goal in the locker room that night. So as much as I enjoyed everything that came with the NHL's first Winter Classic in the South, I'm going with Rinne adding another achievement to an already great NHL career.

Mike Zeisberger, staff writer

Admittedly, goalies scoring goals are special moments. It's happened 15 times (by 12 goalies) in NHL history, with eight coming with the goalie actually shooting the puck into the net. Of course, holding an outdoor game deep in the heart of Texas had never happened before. And as far as spectacles go, this one had everything. It truly was a rodeo on ice. The host Stars arrived at the historic Cotton Bowl wearing cowboy boots, Stetsons, bolo ties and Winter Classic belt buckles. There were horses and a mechanical bull on the field. The second-largest crowd to ever attend an NHL game (85,630) was treated to a dramatic ending when the Stars came back from two goals down, scoring three times in the third period of a 4-2 win against the Predators. And the coup de grace? Piglet races during breaks in play featuring competitors like Joe "Pork"velski, Andrew "Hog"liano, Ro-"Ham" Josi and Gabriel Landes"Hog!" "Top that," Stars forward Tyler Seguin said afterward. It would certainly be tough to.