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Even the shutdown defensemen were once the best players on their team, lighting up the scoreboard. The prolific goal-scorers in the NHL? Well, of course they’ve never stopped scoring. It’s safe to say that these players have scored a lot of goals in their careers — but one has to stand out, surely.

So any team, any level, any league: What is each Blue’s favorite goal that they’ve ever scored?

NHL playoff goals

Brayden Schenn: June 12, 2019 at Boston (Stanley Cup Final, Game 7)

This one will resonate with many Blues fans, and Schenn’s goal with about 8 1/2 minutes left in Game 7 gave St. Louis a three-goal lead. Vladimir Tarasenko chased down a puck in the corner and found a streaking Schenn down the slot, and he beat Tuukka Rask to his left.

“It’s funny, you still have that feeling of where I hit it on my stick,� Schenn said. “It was one of those moments that after it went in, I blacked out to be honest with Schwartz and Vladdy jumping around with me. Just the magnitude of the third goal to give our team a little bit of breathing room with time left in the game. I never felt it like that, but guys said that goal, once that went in, they knew we were winning.�

The rest is history. The Blues beat the Bruins 4-1 and claimed the first Stanley Cup in franchise history.

Jordan Kyrou: May 8, 2022 vs. Minnesota (First round, Game 4)

Kyrou has a penchant for performing against the Wild. He had a four-point game in the Winter Classic in Minneapolis. He had a hat trick up there last March. And his only multi-goal game in the playoffs was against Minnesota.

The first was a goal scored after putting the puck between his legs on a pass from Ryan O’Reilly.

“Puck got dumped in second period, O’Ry went,� Kyrou said. “They tried to reverse it, he picked it off and he hit me in the slot. I came down, defender came out at me, I pulled it through my legs and went around him and went around the goalie at the same time. I’d say that one is probably my favorite one.�

The Blues won the game 5-2, their first of three straight wins to close out the series.

“Just playoff atmosphere,� Kyrou said. “We had such a big rivalry with them that year, I remember, throughout the season. Played them in the Winter Classic that year.�

Dylan Holloway: June 15, 2024 vs. Florida (Stanley Cup Final, Game 4)

When Holloway scored five goals in the playoffs last season, it might have been one of the factors that led the Blues to sign him to an offer sheet in the summer. He scored twice in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final, the first Edmonton win as they tried to come back from down 3-0 in the series.

Holloway’s first of the game came on an assist from Leon Draisaitl.

“Leo made a good play,� Holloway said. “I caught it, backhand toey’d it and then backhand in the net. Sick atmosphere. The game was absolutely electric. Big goal at the time. I was pretty fired up about it.�

The Oilers romped to an 8-1 win that night and eventually lost in Game 7 of the Final.

Philip Broberg: May 31, 2024 at Dallas (Western Conference Final, Game 5)

Initially, Broberg’s answer was his first career NHL goal, which came in April 2022 against San Jose. But after some more thought?

“I’ll change my answer,� Broberg said. “My goal against Dallas, one T from the blue line. Probably the most special one. Game 5 to make it 3-0.�

As he described, Broberg scored on a slap shot in Game 5 against the Stars straight off a won Edmonton faceoff in the offensive zone. It was Broberg’s first career playoff goal and helped solidify his spot in the Oilers lineup the rest of the postseason.

Radek Faksa: May 5, 2024 vs. Vegas (First round, Game 7)

In a cruel twist, Faksa’s favorite goal was also his last with the Stars, with whom he spent the first nine seasons of his NHL career. Faksa scored the game-winning goal in Game 7 against Vegas last spring with a sweeping backhand that put Dallas into the second round.

“It was nice payback from the year before,� Faksa said. “Game 7, at home, 2-1, it was perfect.�

Faksa scored a goal earlier in his career after sliding on top of the Stars bench to keep possession: “That was cool, but it wasn’t that important.�

Alexandre Texier: April 16, 2019 vs. Tampa Bay (First round, Game 4)

It’s often regarded as one of the biggest upsets in NHL playoff history, and Texier got to play a part in the series-clinching game. The Blue Jackets swept the league-best Lightning in the first round in 2019, and a 19-year-old Texier scored in Game 4 to help secure the only series win in Columbus franchise history.

“Honestly, I think that was a blackout from that moment,� Texier said. “It was just full, the crowd was going crazy. The whole situation against Tampa, they were first in the league the whole season. It was cool.�

Texier scored twice in the 7-3 win in Game 4 over Tampa Bay, and the first one set off the Nationwide Arena crowd on the power play in the first period.

“(Seth) Jones walked down the blue line and then he gave it to me on the halfwall,� Texier said. “I walked down and shoot, black out.�

First NHL goals

Jake Neighbours: Oct. 23, 2021 vs. Los Angeles

It was sort of bad timing for Neighbours to score his first NHL goal. His parents were at his first three NHL games, and, as it turns out, he scored in his fourth.

“It was here at Enterprise against LA,� Neighbours said. “Cal Petersen in net. Just came off the bench, actually and came down the slot and worked my way backdoor. Schenner came out of the corner and just fed me a backdoor tap-in.�

Neighbours was sent back to junior hockey after playing nine games in the NHL that season, and has since become a staple on the top line.

Now, if we’d have asked Neighbours’ dad Ed’s favorite goal? Probably when Jake scored while Ed was being interviewed on TV on Nov. 30, 2023 vs. Buffalo.

“That was just a shock,� Neighbours said. “After the game, he was on Cloud Nine. He couldn’t believe he was on TV and then I scored when he was on TV. He couldn’t stop talking about it. That’s probably his favorite goal, for sure.�

Colton Parayko: Oct. 13, 2015 at Calgary

The details stick with Parayko. Asked what he remembers about his first goal? “Everything, really,� he replies.

“It was on the power play in Calgary,� Parayko said. “I want to say my third NHL game. I remember I scored on a wrist shot from the point. Troy Brouwer was the net-front, really good screen. It was (against) Jonas Hiller, he catches right, I remember. My whole family was there, too, which was cool because it was in Calgary.�

Parayko scored another goal in that game, too. His second one ended up as the game-winner in a 4-3 Blues win.

Nathan Walker: Oct. 7, 2017 vs. Montreal

Luckily, Walker still got the puck from his first goal – even if it wasn’t officially his goal until a period later. Walker scored when a Devante Smith-Pelly shot glanced off his bottom and past Al Montoya.

“I didn’t know it was mine until halfway through the third period,� Walker said. “The fact that it’s your first goal and it goes in off your butt. … Must’ve reviewed it a few times.�

Other footnotes from that game? It was Walker’s NHL debut. And it was also the last time Alex Ovechkin has scored four goals in a game.

Special circumstances

Cam Fowler: Dec. 31, 2024 at Chicago

The most recent goal on this list belongs to Fowler, courtesy of his first goal in the Winter Classic at Wrigley Field less than three months ago. Fowler scored just 100 seconds into the game on the power play vs. the Blackhawks, and did so in his 1,000th career NHL game.

“It was just everything,� Fowler said. “Still relatively new to the team, it was early on in the game, so I feel like it set the tone for the game. A thousand games, Wrigley Field, just all of it. The emotion just kind of came out of me after I scored, which that doesn’t happen very often. You just feel it all, letting it all out. The setting and all of it made that goal special.�

Fowler’s celebration was commemorated in a painting gifted by the Blues to Fowler to celebrate his 1,000th game.

“That’s one of the coolest things that I own right now is that painting,� Fowler said. “It’s so cool that the team that did for me, and to share that with my teammates and my friends, it was a very cool experience.�

Ryan Suter: Jan. 4, 2014 vs. Washington

Suter has one hat trick in his 20-year NHL career, and the third goal of the game more than a decade ago sticks out to him.

“I actually got out of the box,� Suter said. “It was a 2 on 1, Clayton Stoner passed it over and scored shortside high. No big deal.�

Suter only has three multi-goal games in his career, and the most recent one was in Oct. 2015 as a member of the Wild vs. Edmonton.

Junior playoff goals

Robert Thomas: May 13, 2018 vs. Sault Ste. Marie (OHL Final, Game 6)

On his way to being named the OHL playoff MVP, Thomas also scored the go-ahead goal in the clinching game of the OHL Final for his Hamilton Bulldogs in 2018. His goal gave Hamilton a 4-3 lead on Sault Ste. Marie in the third period, and the Bulldogs never gave up the lead after that.

“Got the puck in one corner, went around the net to the other side, cut back on someone, went around the net again and wrapped it around five-hole,� Thomas said.

Now how many of his previous goals could he recount in that detail?

“Probably a lot of them, to be honest, and a good amount of assists,� Thomas said. “I think I can recall a lot of them. Maybe try some trivia.�

Tyler Tucker: March 29, 2018 at Mississauga (First round, Game 4)

Tucker thought he wasn’t going to see the ice again after taking a penalty late in the third period that led to a Mississauga tying power-play goal. But he was on the ice for the first shift in overtime, and scored the game-winner to lift Barrie.

“They tied it up on the power play,� Tucker said. “I was like ‘Aw, I’m (screwed). I’m not playing again.’ They put me out first shift and like (16) seconds in, I scored. OT winner. There was a scrum out front and it bobbled up to me, and I skated into and shot it and went in. That was probably my best one, I don’t score too many goals.�

Tucker still says “it was my fault� regarding the holding penalty. Barrie tied the series at 2 with Tucker’s goal, and then beat Mississauga in six games.

Zack Bolduc: May 17, 2023 at Halifax (QMJHL Final, Game 4)

Bolduc helped Quebec win the QMJHL championship in 2023, and his game-winning goal in Game 4 helped the Remparts get there. Bolduc scored with less than seven minutes remaining in the third period, breaking a 1-1 tie and giving Quebec a 3-1 series lead.

“Momentum wasn’t on our side,� Bolduc said. “Just made a good play with my linemate and score a goal. It was away, too, in their barn so it was pretty nice.�

Bolduc also scored in the championship-clinching Game 6, tying the game at 3 with a goal early in the third period.

International goals

Oskar Sundqvist: Jan. 4, 2014 vs. Russia (WJC semifinal)

Scoring on a breakaway on Andrei Vasilevskiy is memorable enough. Doing it with a backhand finish? In your home country? To seal a berth in the World Junior gold medal game? That was Sundqvist in 2014.

“At home in Sweden so it was packed,� Sundqvist said. “It was a lot of fun. It was probably the biggest goal I’ve scored. It was awesome. Everything was perfect.�

Sundqvist gave Sweden a 2-0 lead in the third period against Russia (and Pavel Buchnevich), and then the Swedes held on for a 2-1 win that put them in the final against Finland. Sweden lost the gold medal game in overtime.

Mathieu Joseph: Jan. 5, 2017 vs. United States (WJC gold medal game)

Before the 2017 World Junior Championship, Joseph had never played inside the Bell Centre. He grew up around Montreal, and now had the chance to play for Team Canada in the most electric building in the sport.

Joseph scored on the rush in the third period to give Canada a 4-2 lead against the United States.

“I didn’t score for the whole tournament, so it was my first goal of the tournament,� Joseph said. “I had several chances and couldn’t score. In the final, we’re up 3-2, and two or three minutes later, I score on a breakout, broken play between a guy’s leg. I have a half breakaway and go low blocker. The building was the loudest I ever heard in Montreal.�

The U.S. came back to tie the game in the third period, and then won it in a shootout.

Justin Faulk: April 23, 2010 vs. Sweden (U18 gold medal game)

The oldest goal of the bunch, Faulk’s favorite is from almost half-a-lifetime ago, when he scored the eventual game-winning goal in the Under-18 World Championship for the U.S. against Sweden in 2010.

“That was pretty cool,� Faulk said. “Where were we? I think we were in Belarus.�

Just as a Sweden penalty was expiring, Faulk drove the net and redirected a pass from Nick Shore to give the U.S. a 2-0 lead. That American team also had future NHLers like Bryan Rust and Brandon Saad.

Everything else

Pavel Buchnevich: Nov. 17, 2022 vs. Washington

Buchnevich originally wanted to submit a goal that he didn’t score, but set up, which checks out for the play-making winger. But when he thought about his own goals, it came back to one two seasons ago.

“I like that one when we play (in the) yellow jerseys (against) Washington,� Buchnevich said. “When we’re stuck in the zone, Tommer give to Vladdy and he dumped the puck. I pick it up, fake, go around the net and score.�

As for the goal that Buchnevich helped set up? That came as a Ranger on Oct. 5, 2019 at Ottawa.

“Foxy got the puck,� Buchnevich said of Adam Fox. “He rimmed the puck to (Artemi) Panarin, we got a 3 on 2. Panarin make a pass to Mika (Zibanejad). Bang, bang, bang, bang and empty-netter. Crazy play.�

Alexey Toropchenko: Feb. 11, 2024 at Montreal

All Toropchenko had to say was “Montreal.� It was understood which goal Toropchenko meant.

Last February, Toropchenko started the scoring just 25 seconds into the game by going wide on Jayden Struble, putting the puck between his legs and then tucking it past Jake Allen.

“Sick move,� Toropchenko said. “Power move, between the legs, hard to the net. Sick rink to score the goal. I’ll say this, most prettiest (goal).�

Nick Leddy: Feb. 9, 2018 vs. Detroit

Before the wild San Jose comeback vs. Vegas in 2019, there was the Islanders’ in 2018 against Detroit. With Tyler Bertuzzi assessed a match penalty for slashing Cal Clutterbuck, New York had a five-minute power play with a chance to shrink a 5-2 deficit.

The Islanders scored four times on the power play, and Leddy’s goal was third in the sequence to tie the game a 5.

“Tyler Bertuzzi, who I got to know later, he took a penalty on Cal Clutterbuck,� Leddy said. “We ended scoring three goals on that power play, might have been four. So we tied it and then took the lead. I was a part of a couple of those.�

Detroit’s Mike Green scored to send the game into overtime, but the Islanders won on Brock Nelson’s goal in OT.