With his opening goal on the penalty kill during Game 4 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers on Saturday night, Mattias Janmark became the first Edmonton Oilers player to score two shorthanded goals in the same playoff run since Todd Marchant in 1997.
Janmark, 31, scored his second shorty of the playoffs (and his third goal overall) at the 3:11 mark of the first period of Saturday’s game at Rogers Place while defenceman Darnell Nurse was in the box serving a tripping penalty. Connor Brown picked up the lone helper on the early goal.
Ironically, Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov — widely regarded as the league’s best defensive forward — ended up putting the puck in his own net after Janmark’s initial shot appeared to be heading wide of the Florida goal. The puck ricocheted off the sprawling Barkov and past a down-and-out Sergei Bobrovsky to put the Oilers up 1-0.
Here’s the full video of the sequence from the official Sportsnet Twitter account:
MATTIAS JANMARK ON THE PK! OILERS LEAD EARLY IN GAME 4! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/zP7FSCTMhT
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) June 16, 2024
Janmark is now just one goal shy of equalling his total from the entire 2023-24 regular season, during which he managed four goals and 12 points in 71 games. The Stockholm product has five points (three goals, two assists) in 22 playoff games with the Oilers this spring.
Marchant was 23 years old when his Oilers went to the second round of the playoffs in 1997. The Buffalo, New York product collected four goals (including two down a man) and six points in 12 games with the Oilers that spring.
The Oilers originally signed Janmark to a one-year, $1.25 million contract during the 2022 free agency period. After a reasonably productive first season in Edmonton, the club re-signed the Swedish forward to another one-year deal worth $1 million.
The Detroit Red Wings originally selected Janmark in the third round (No. 79 overall) of the 2013 NHL Draft. Janmark never played a game for the Red Wings before being traded to the Dallas Stars in 2015 as part of a package used to acquire Erik Cole.
After making his NHL debut with the Stars in 2015-16, Janmark went on to appear in four seasons with the club and helped them reach the Stanley Cup Final in the 2020 bubble playoffs. He subsequently joined the Chicago Blackhawks as a free agent later that year before being traded to the Vegas Golden Knights, with whom he played parts of two seasons.
Through 557 career games over parts of eight NHL seasons with the Stars, Blackhawks, Golden Knights, and Oilers, Janmark has collected 80 goals and 195 points. He’s tacked on 11 goals and 30 points in 77 playoff contests.