<P> Eleven goaltenders have scored a total of fourteen goals in National Hockey League (NHL) games . A goalkeeper can score by either shooting the puck into the net, or being awarded the goal as the last player on his team to touch the puck when an opponent scored an own goal . A goal scored by shooting the puck is particularly challenging as the goaltender has to aim for a six - foot - wide net that is close to 180 feet away, while avoiding opposing defencemen; in the case of own goals, the combined circumstance of the own goal itself in addition to the goaltender being the last player to touch the puck makes it a very rare occurrence . Of the fourteen goals, seven were scored by shooting the puck and seven were the result of own goals . </P> <P> Goaltenders have participated in the offence, albeit in a limited way, since the earliest days of the sport . Before the creation of the NHL in 1917, there were some instances recorded of goaltenders rushing down the ice to participate in the play, occasionally scoring a goal . This practice has since been outlawed (goalies are not allowed to cross the centre red line to play the puck) after the Toronto Maple Leafs' Gary Smith was injured on such a rush in the 1966--67 NHL season . During the history of the league, there had been some near - misses by goaltenders, including attempts by Chuck Rayner by aiming at the empty net, or joining the attack . In 1977, Rogatien Vachon briefly became the first goaltender to score a goal after being credited following an own goal by the opponent, before it was given instead to a teammate by later video review . </P>

How many nhl goalies have scored a goal