Magnus Paajarvi originally wasn’t going to be in the Edmonton Oilers lineup for Saturday’s game against the Colorado Avalanche.
Then Lennart Petrell took a puck to the head during warm-up and didn’t play, which forced Paajarvi into the game.
He ended up scoring the winning goal with 1:34 left in the third period, as the Oilers erased a three-goal deficit late in the second period on their way to an entertaining 6-4 win on home ice.
The Oilers peppered Avalanche netminder Semyon Varlamov with 55 shots - he stopped 50 of them - and finished the game with 56 shots in total.
“It was awesome,” Paajarvi told the Edmonton Journal.
“I was laying on the couch at 6:45. I got to the rink at maybe 7:30. I just didn’t think. I just jumped in.
The Edmonton Journal also reported that Petrell left the arena with a headache.
Center Teemu Hartikainen also left the game for the Oilers with what was reported to be a shoulder injury.
Now it's Teemu Hartikained. Shoulder. Not coming back.
— Terry Jones (@byterryjones) February 17, 2013