Montour scores fastest OT goal in NHL history

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SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - MARCH 12: Brandon Montour #62 of the Seattle Kraken scores the winning goal in overtime against the Montreal Canadiens at Climate Pledge Arena on March 12, 2025 in Seattle, Washington. (Steph Chambers / Getty Images)

SEATTLE - Kraken defenseman Brandon Montour's game-winning goal four seconds into overtime tied the NHL record for fastest goal in history as Seattle rallied from a 4-2 third period deficit in the third period for a 5-4 win over the Montreal Canadiens.

The goal was the fastest ever scored in overtime and the fourth goal ever scored just four seconds into any period.

"I thought the the overtime goal was brilliant," head coach Dan Bylsma said.

Montour, Chandler Stephenson and Jordan Eberle came up with the play on the ice to start overtime. When they saw Montreal match them straight up at center ice with Lane Hutson, Christian Dvorak and Nick Suzuki, they decided to go for the quick strike. Stephenson's face-off win went forward as Montour jumped by Hutson for an immediate breakaway as his shot beat Montreal goaltender Jakub Dobeš for the game-winning goal.

"It was a great play by Chandler," Eberle said. "Kind of set up off the draw. I knew it was. I just got to be a civilian and watch that, just stood there. It was a great play by Chandler, heads up. And great play and finish by Monty."

Montour said he told Stephenson to stay back after the face-off just in case the draw didn't go to plan.

"Saw he bumped it up and we went for it, so it was nice to see that one," Montour said.

Claude Provost of the Canadiens (Nov. 9, 1957 vs Boston), Denis Savard of the Chicago Blackhawks (Jan. 12, 1986 vs. Hartford), and James van Riemsdyk of the Toronto Maple Leafs (March 28, 2014 vs. Philadelphia) are the other three goals four seconds into a period.

Provost and van Riemsdyk scored their goals in the second period, with Savard's goal coming in the third period. Six different players were previously tied for the fastest overtime goal at six seconds: Mats Sundin, Alex Ovechkin, David Legwand, Andreas Athanasiou, William Nylander and Adrian Kempe.

"That's what Chandler said. It could have been (the fastest)," Montour said. "We didn't know how quick it was. But again, it was nice for the group to get a big win there."

The overtime winner capped a third period rally as the Kraken overcame a 4-2 deficit in the final 10 minutes. Jani Nyman scored his first career goal in the NHL on the power play in his NHL debut to cut the Montreal lead to one.

Then, with Arber Xhekaj in the box for the third time in the game, Seattle pulled goaltender Joey Daccord to go 6-on-4 looking for the tying goal with over two minutes left to play. Matty Beniers deflected a Vince Dunn shot from the point by Dobeš with 2:12 remaining to tie the game at 4-4.

Montour's overtime winner is also his 15th goal of the season, which sets a new Kraken record for most goals in a year by a Seattle defenseman. Vince Dunn previously held the record with 14 goals in the 2022-23 season. It was also Montour's fifth goal of the season against Montreal, as he had a hat trick against the Canadiens in the prior meeting between the two teams in October.

Montour had two goals and two assists against Montreal on Wednesday night, and three goals and an assist against the Canadiens in October. The two games are his only four-point games this season for Seattle.

Montour 14th goal of the year gave Seattle the early 1-0 lead. Jordan Eberle made a nice play by jumping and knocking the puck down off the glass to keep play in the offensive zone. He quickly found an open Montour, whose quick shot beat the blocker of Dobeš to put the Kraken on top.

A similar setup from Eberle led to Eeli Tolvanen's 19th goal of the year. Eberle directed a puck sailing around the boards off the wall to Tolvanen in the right circle and his shot also beat Dobeš' blocker for a 2-0 Kraken lead.

The goal set a new career-high for Tolvanen, who had 18 combined goals in 2022-23 split between his time with the Kraken (16) and Nashville Predators (2).

Montreal then scored four unanswered goals to take control of the contest.

Patrik Laine hammered home his 12th power play goal of the season with Montour in the box for tripping. A missed defensive coverage during 4-on-4 play then allowed Alex Newhook to get cleanly to the back post for a tap-in finish by Joey Daccord off a Laine pass to even the game at 2-2.

Juraj Slafkovský followed with the go-ahead tally by outflanking Ryker Evans to the left of the net and snapped a shot by Daccord, who was a touch out of position.

Eberle had a great look on an open net looking to tie only for it to clang off the right post and stay out. Slafkovský then scored his second of the night, tipping a Jayden Struble shot out of the air by Daccord for a 4-2 lead. Officials checked the goal to see if Slafkovský played the puck with a high-stick, and it did look to be above the crossbar on replay. However, the goal stood after review.

Eberle picked up his third assist of the night, assisting on Nyman's first goal. Eberle's pass from behind the goal line found Nyman driving to the net for a hard one-time finish that found the back of the net.

"It's amazing pass. It's easy work doing the score. It's almost empty net," said Nyman, whose parents made it to the game from Finland for his debut.

"It's very special. I don't know what I say, it's very special night. First game, first goal."

Nyman didn't look out of place in his Kraken debut. The 6-foot-4 2022 second-round product played nearly 14 minutes in his first ever NHL game, playing alongside André Burakovsky and center Jared McCann.

"He was skating, he was moving his feet. He made some good puck plays, good, smart puck plays, was in the offensive zone, able to hang on to pucks and be a factor down low," Bylsma said.

"And, you know, the power play one-timer. "Didn't see it in practice from him yesterday. It was implored like, 'make sure that you're shooting that puck when it comes to you,' and an overpowering one for the first one (off the post) and the second one's a great play by Ebs on the power play. Released pressure and makes a play to Jani, and, you know, he puts her in the back of the net. So I thought he did a great job of getting to the game."

Eberle had the primary assist on each of Seattle's first three goals.

The Source: Original FOX 13 Seattle reporting with historical statistics from the NHL.