It was quite a night to be a St. Louis Blues fan.
On the same evening that the Blues advanced to the conference semifinal, Joel Hofer scored a goal in a playoff game with the Springfield Thunderbirds to contribute to a big victory.
The goal made it 5-2 for Springfield, an empty-netter at 56:12. It was the first AHL goalie goal since Tristan Jarry got one in 2018-19, with Alex Nedeljkovic doing it the year before.
The goal was scored in Hofer’s first professional playoff game, too. Hofer, 21, is viewed as a goaltender of the future for the Blues. He won the top goalie award at the 2020 World Junior Championship and had a respectable 18-14-8 record as a full-time AHLer this season. Hofer even got into two NHL games, winning his NHL debut 5-3 over San Jose on November 4.
