Gregg Johnson thought he was all alone. After picking up a loose puck in the neutral zone, the speedy Boston University center split two defenders and burst over the blue line, staring down University of Nebraska at Omaha goalie Dan Ellis as he moved in for a shorthanded bid with 1:52 left in the first period Friday night.
But then, as Johnson put it, things got “weird.”
“I knew I had the two defensemen beat speedwise, but I was real surprised to see a stick come flying out in front of me,” Johnson said. “I wasn’t sure if he threw it or whatever.”
The stick in question belonged to Nebraska captain Greg Zanon, who was backchecking and swung at the puck as Johnson cruised between the faceoff circles. Zanon broke up the play, but in doing so the stick flung from his hands, a defensive tactic that, according to the referee, was intentional and by rule awarded Johnson a penalty shot.
So as a confused Johnson crashed into Ellis without getting off a quality scoring chance, Joe Andrews became a maestro. With the raise of a hand and a point toward the center circle, the referee’s orchestra of 3,189 hopped to its feet, screaming and cheering at a level seldom seen in Walter Brown Arena during the past few seasons.
Johnson, meanwhile, was gliding in circles through his own zone, alone on the ice and bent at the belt with his hands on his knees.
“I was thinking about what move I was going to make,” he said.
After deciding what to do, Johnson went out and did it. Approaching Ellis with the puck on the front of his blade, Johnson quickly shifted to his backhand and then again to his forehand, holding the puck to within about eight feet of Ellis before blasting a stick-side wrister into the top of the net per order of associate head coach Brian Durocher.
“I’m comfortable with that move, so that’s the one I used,” he said. “And as the game went on, Coach Durocher was telling us blocker side.”
Indeed, four of the six Terrier goals were scored high to Ellis’ right side, but none electrified the BU crowd quite like Johnson’s solo effort. “The most exciting play in hockey” lived up to its billing, and gave the Terriers a 2-0 lead.
“It’s always awesome to get a penalty shot, especially in a tight game like that at home,” Johnson said. “The fans were going nuts. Luckily I scored, or no one would like me anymore.”
Johnson didn’t have to wait long for positive affirmation. The crowd’s excitement was audibly ear-splitting, and as his momentum dragged him in front of BU’s storied Section 8, Johnson gave a peek up and pumped his fist as he skated by.
“It’s awesome, especially when you score down there,” he said. “The fans are unbelievable down there. To be the only guy on the ice for a penalty shot is awesome, and it’s kind of cool to look up there and you get pretty jacked up when you look up at Section 8.”
The goal lifted Johnson from the dubious distinction of being the only scoreless Icedog to play in every game, though Nebraska coach Mike Kemp wasn’t so sure Johnson deserved his opportunity.
“Obviously the stick flew out of his hand,” Kemp said. “Knowing Greg Zanon, he was trying to make a play; he wasn’t trying to throw his stick. He said to me it just slipped out of his hand.”
On the other bench, the electricity of the air caught the attention of BU Coach Jack Parker, who harkened back to yesteryear.
“That [penalty shot] certainly got everybody going,” he said. “When we used to have a shootout in Hockey East, I was against that. BU really benefited from it for a couple of years, but I was against it. I just didn’t like the idea of it. I remember the very first time we had it, it was here. The crowd was going nuts as they put the puck down. One of my assistants leaned over because he knew I was against it, and he says, ‘Yeah, you’re right. Nobody wants this.’
“[Johnson’s] was a big goal from an emotional standpoint.”