Kent Johnson scores Michigan goal

Kent Johnson is filthy.

Columbus Blue Jackets forward Kent Johnson scored a Michigan goal Friday night against the New York Islanders, becoming the fourth NHL player to successfully pull off the move. Johnson joins Andrei Svechnikov, Trevor Zegras and Filip Forsberg as NHL players who have scored Michigan goals.

Johnson accomplished the feat during the second period of Friday’s game between the Blue Jackets and Islanders at Nationwide Arena. The CBJ forward burned two Isles players at the right circle with a nasty between-the-legs toe drag to set himself up behind the net for a Michigan attempt. Johnson made no mistake as he quickly scooped the puck onto his stick blade and deposited it top shelf on goalie Ilya Sorokin.

Check out Johnson scoring with the Michigan move below:

The Blue Jackets account also tweeted out a good replay of the sequence that illustrates just how quickly Johnson executed the entire thing. This is one of the sickest Michigan goals we’ve ever seen.

Johnson attended the University of Michigan and is surprisingly the first player from the state of Michigan to pull off the move at the NHL level. In another awesome coincidence, Johnson’s goal comes on the 27th anniversary of Mike Legg scoring the original Michigan goal. You couldn’t write this up any better.

Nationwide Arena went nuts when Johnson scored the goal, which is awesome to see considering the team’s struggles this season. The building was packed Friday night even though the Blue Jackets sit at the bottom of the NHL standings and have been mathematically eliminated from playoff contention.

Johnson has previously tried to score with the Michigan in his NHL career, so perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised he finally pulled it off. You also can’t forget he scored a famous Michigan goal for Team Canada at the World Juniors.

Johnson has been a bright spot in a tough year for CBJ, notching 14 goals and 36 points in 67 games this season. Keep an eye out for Johnson in the future, as his skill makes him an exciting player to watch.