Ron Hextall was the first NHL goaltender to score by deliberately shooting the puck into the opponent’s net.
Hextall achieved the feat for the Philadelphia Flyers on December 8, 1987, against the Boston Bruins. Boston had pulled goaltender Rejean Lemelin for an extra attacker, leaving an empty net. From his own end, Hextall sent the puck the length of the ice and became the first NHL goalie to score directly with a shot.
The distinction matters because earlier goaltenders had been credited with goals when an opposing player accidentally put the puck into their own net during a delayed penalty. Those goals were recorded as goalie goals, but they were not shots taken by the goaltender. Hextall later scored another goal in the 1989 playoffs, also by shooting into an empty net. Martin Brodeur and José Théodore also scored as NHL goaltenders, but both came after Hextall’s breakthrough.