Flames goalie Jacob Markstrom couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start — and he still didn’t give up the worst goal of his team’s 5-3 loss to the Oilers in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals.
In the opening 20 seconds of this Battle of Alberta, Markstrom mishandled the puck behind the goal and it went directly to Edmonton’s Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who deposited it into the net over the diving Vezina finalist as he desperately tried to get back in the play.
The lead would swell to 3-0 Edmonton after the first period before Calgary staged an impressive comeback. The advantage was down to 3-2 at the start of the third period when Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson fired a clearing shot from his own zone and it somehow found its way past Oilers goalie Mike Smith.
According to the USA Today, Andersson’s shot came from 132 feet away. Smith somewhat hilariously gestures as if he is trying to blame somebody — anybody — else after the puck went into the net.
Luckily for Smith, Nugent-Hopkins netted his second goal of the game with 3:27 left, and Evander Kane added an empty-netter to give the Oilers a 5-3 win and a commanding 3-1 lead in the series.
“I can laugh now, right?” Smith said. “I don’t think there’s been a time in my career where I’ve lost the puck where I had no idea where it went. … Obviously, you don’t want that to happen ever, but unbelievable goal by Nuge at the end there to give us a boost back.”