Montreal Canadiens Jacob Olofsson scores solid but controversial goal

The Montreal Canadiens have a lot of prospects at the World Junior Summer Showcase and Jacob Olofsson was in the spotlight after his overtime winning goal.

When the dog days of summer come creeping by, it’s great that these kinds of tournaments exist, especially for an organization like the Montreal Canadiens who have some interesting names to follow. In total, the Habs have four prospects taking part in the World Junior Summer Showcase: Cole Caufield, Jordan Harris, Allan McShane, and Jacob Olofsson. Montreal easily could’ve had three more in Cole Fonstad, Jayden Struble, and Mattias Norlinder but they were all forced to sit due to injury.

Sunday’s action saw Olofsson’s Team Sweden take on Harris’ Team USA White.

Olofsson started the game but centred the third line in between Alex Holtz and Lucas Raymond. Harris, on the other hand, was paired with New York Rangers 2019 third-round pick Zac Jones.

Things got going early with both teams scoring in the first period. Samuel Fagemo took an early tripping penalty, but Sweden was still able to capitalize via  Marcus Karlberg who scored shorthanded.

Sweden didn’t hold the lead for too long as USA White tied it up three minutes later thanks to Arthur Kaliyev. Both teams had opportunities to score at even strength and on the power play, but the game ended needing overtime to settle things.

Here is where Jacob Olofsson came to play. The game looked as if it was heading to the shootout before the Habs 2018 second-round pick decided to go end-to-end.

Olofsson used the open ice from 3-on-3 to his advantage cutting across the defensive blue line to speed up along the right side of the ice towards the net. He continued to move, passing Blade Jenkins while using his body to guide the puck forward.

The initial view made it seem as if Olofsson’s shot trickled in passed Dustin Wolf after it was all said and done, but the replay showed something else.

A closer look sees the puck bounce off Wolf’s skate and creep over the line, but Jenkins’ stick pokes it the other way. A scrum ensues with both Jenkins and Trevor Zegras trying to keep the puck from passing making it difficult to see where it is.

The play ended up being deemed a goal as the refs didn’t get the other view. Regardless of the decision, seeing Olofsson make plays like that while using his body to his advantage is what the Montreal Canadiens drafted him for. Hopefully, there’s more of that to see from him as the Showcase continues.

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