On Thursday, Edmonton Oilers defenseman Kris Russell committed a simple mistake against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Russell went to clear the puck from the Oilers defensive zone but misfired the puck past his own goaltender, Laurent Brossoit, resulting in a 6-4 loss for Edmonton.
After the game, Russell was visably dissappointed in the game-changing play as he explained what he tried to attempt during the sequence. He was faced with a bouncing puck and with the Leafs closing in on Russell, he tried to "bat it out" of the zone.
Shortly after the play, Russell's mishap went viral. Many laughed at the aspect of an "own-goal" while Russell came under scrutiny for the play.
Oilers head coach Todd McLellan, again, came to the defense of his veteran ahead of the Oilers' game against the Calgary Flames on Saturday.
Coach McLellan discusses #Oilers recent success vs. provincial rivals, Brossoit stepping up, Russell's contributions, lineup notes & more ahead of tonight's #BattleOfAlberta matchup. pic.twitter.com/FgUS1n9DCZ
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) December 2, 2017
"Kris Russell is a character individual and that's why our team cares so much about him," McLellan said. "Whoever's criticising this individual probably has never played a competitive sport in their life and if they have and they've been perfect and that event never occurred to them, then they should be in the hall of fame somewhere. Mistakes happen.
"There was no intent for him to shoot it in our net. That's the one video clip we don't even review. What are we going to look at? What he means to our team and I know all the analytics nerds out there find ways to run him into the ground, he means a lot to our team. Every single one of those players, regardless of the goal the other night he put into his own net, will tell you that any day in any place. I'm pretty sure a lot of guys in that locker room down the hallway would tell you the same thing. So analytics that, if you want."
Russell's 2017 campaign is proving to be much more productive compared to his first season in Edmonton last year. Consider it a "rebound" year, if you will. After recording 13 points in all of 2016, the 30-year-old defenseman has 11 points through the Oilers' first 26 games.