The Montreal Canadians forward scored just six seconds into the second period of his team’s 5-2 victory over the SBlues — and he initially had no idea his hopeful wrister had even hit the back of the net.
Gallagher battled for the puck along the right wing immediately after the period-opening face off, eventually gaining possession at the Blues’ blue line. Upon entering the offensive zone, the 27-year-old floated a wrist shot from the point toward St. Louis goaltender Jake Allen, who whiffed on his half-hearted attempt at clearing the puck with his stick.
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The result was Gallagher’s fourth goal of the season and Montreal’s second of the game.
Allen has been a steady backup in his NHL career, with the 29-year-old posting a career 2.54 goals against average along with a .911 save percentage across 266 games heading into Saturday.
Unfortunately for Allen, his miscue was the fastest goal scored to start a period in the NHL so far this season, and second-fastest in league history.