This is one of the craziest sports jinxes of all-time.
The Montreal Canadiens and Vegas Golden Knights played Game 3 of their third-round NHL Playoffs series on Friday evening. The Habs were dominated for the majority of the game, but forced overtime with a late goal.
Josh Anderson scored the game-tying goal in the third period after a complete misplay by Vegas goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury. Fleury went to stop a dump-in behind the net, but the puck squeaked through his feet to Anderson in front.
The craziest part of the goal was that it was jinxed by the NBC announcers not even 10 seconds prior. “Fleury’s puck handling has made a difference, huh Joe?,” said broadcaster Pierre McGuire. “Yeah it really has”, Joe Micheletti responded.
The rest was history. The Habs scored because of Fleury’s poor puck handling just seconds after the announcers gave him praise for those skills.
Video:
“Fleury’s puck handling has made a difference, huh Joe?”
*10 seconds later*
Oh lord.pic.twitter.com/xDhUV9llrs— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) June 19, 2021
Anderson would also score the overtime winner to give Montreal a 3-2 victory. The Habs managed the victory despite being outshot 45-27. Montreal has won two consecutive games to take a 2-1 series lead on Vegas.
This was one of the worst goals ever allowed in the NHL playoffs, which makes the jinx all the more insane. Fleury’s puck handling did in fact make a difference, but it wasn’t in the way Pierre McGuire expected.
