On the day that the Detroit Red Wings were celebrating Gordie Howe’s 85th birthday, the Wings came out completely flat against the Chicago Blackhawks. They were down 2-0 when this disastrous play happened. Red Wings defenseman Jakub Kindl got the puck in front of his own net and was trying to make a play to get the puck away from the net when he got stick-checked by Blackhawks forward Jimmy Hayes.
The goal was credited to Dave Bolland, and as much as I would like to think the stick check was the reason this happened, Kindl has to be stronger on his stick. I mean, he buried that puck right under the bar and a little tap on the stick shouldn’t make this happen. You’ve got to love the body language from Jimmy Howard after Kindl put that puck past him, just a total look of shock.
I wonder if Kindl said something like this when he got back to the bench.