The goalkeeper's goal is the holy grail. More than three times as rare in NHL history as a five-goal game, there have only been 18 instances of a goalie scoring, and those were by 15 different goalies. A intentionally A goalie goal – a goal in which the goalie shoots the puck into an empty net rather than being counted as the last player to have touched the puck before the other team scores an own goal – has happened only 11 times.

Welcome to the club, Filip Gustavsson.

The Minnesota Wild backstop stopped 27 of 28 shots and scored one of his own in a 4-1 win at St. Louis on Tuesday. Many have tried; Only a few have succeeded. Some goalkeepers think about it all the time; It may not occur to others. Gustavsson has been one of the latter players in the past, but substitute Marc-Andre Fleury suggested during a break in play, citing the two-goal lead, that he should give it a go.

It's never an easy shot: the puck must be lifted high enough to get past the attacking skaters, yet remain precise enough to travel approximately 175 feet into a 6-foot-wide window. So when one scores, they have bragging rights. “I should now take part in the power play meetings,” Gustavsson said afterwards. His teammates were thrilled; check out her smile in the clip. “Good shot. The same (number of) goals (as) many others,” said Kirill Kaprizov, who like Gustavsson has scored one goal this year.

Witnessing a goalie goal is basically my white whale. Last season, a game I attended was notable for producing a shutout for my team, reversing a slump for them and specifically their goalie, and leading to a deep playoff run. The only thing I remember from the game is my goalie missing a shot attempt by 15 feet. If only!

But for something so special, the goalkeeper's goal has a relatively short history. For one thing, until the 1930s, teams didn't pull goalkeepers when they fell behind. Still, the first film wasn't made until 1979, and that hardly counts. Billy Smith of the New York Islanders saved a delayed penalty just before the Colorado Rockies accidentally shot one into their own open net while trying to get the puck back to the point. It remains the only goalkeeper goal scored by a team that lost the game.

There had previously been close arguments. Rogie Vachon of Los Angeles was briefly credited with a goal he scored in a game similar to Smith's in 1977, and when this was announced to the audience, “pandemonium broke out” in the forum, but after a video review, the official scorer concluded that another King had touched the puck to Vachon.

The closest thing to a “real” goalie was probably Chuck Rayner, who played nine seasons for the New York Americans and New York Rangers. During World War II, Rayner was playing on a Canadian Army all-star team when he skated out of his own goal crease, carried the puck down the ice Patrick Roy-style and hit the opposing goalie. (In the late 1960s, goalies were banned from crossing center ice, with a rule in direct response to this Journeyman netminder Gary “Suitcase” Smith, who had made it his trademark, was injured during one such rush.)

Rayner attempted to emulate the feat several times in the NHL, both skating the ice and shooting the length of the rink, but missed or was blocked each time. Rayner took some shots even when there was a man in the net – at this time the coaches were still working on the optimal strategy, and the offensive-minded Chuck Rayner was occasionally used as an additional player at the point on power plays. “Bonnie Prince Charlie” never achieved his goal, but his attempts were noted in his official biography when he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

The first direct shot goal by a goalie had to wait until 1987, when infamous puck player Ron Hextall shot all over the ice to give the Flyers their first goal against the Bruins. He obviously wanted it badly – he had tried to clarify it just a few seconds earlier, which prompted the play-by-play announcer to tease it before it happened. “When they first dropped it, I didn’t have much time, so I just cleared the zone,” Hextall said. “The second time I had a lot of time and thought: 'What the heck, let's go.'”

It was close: Hextall later admitted he thought it would hit the post. But in his post-game press conference he mocked his slim lead. “Before you say anything,” he told reporters, “I was aiming for that corner.”

Hextall said he wanted more in his career, and he would get one in the 1989 playoffs. Martin Brodeur would surpass him with three in his career. The two remain the only goalkeepers with multiple goals.

In honor of Gustavsson's achievement, the NHL compiled a video of every goalie goal in league history on Tuesday night. It's an entertaining film that combines brutal offensive own-goal gaffes with direct shots on goal that cause delirium on the ice. Maybe one day I'll see one of mine – Igor Shesterkin really wants one – but if not, I'll survive. They're so rare I can't wait for them, and no matter how much I want one, Chuck Rayner deserves one more than I do.

As much fun as they are for fans and teammates, they are most meaningful to the armor-clad, usually sedentary men who let it rip in a brief moment of Daedalusian chutzpah. “That’s one thing I’ll talk about when I’m done Hockey,” Hextall once said.