NWHL Goal of the Week: Dempsey goes top shelf on the back hand

The captain’s unassisted beauty deserves a second look

In the third period of Saturday’s game against the Buffalo Beauts, 2020 NWHL All-Star captain Jillian Dempsey stripped the puck from Lenka Curmova and hustled down the ice to score a gorgeous unassisted goal.

Dempsey’s goal, scored 4:09 into the third period of the game, was her 12th tally of the year and 10th goal scored at even strength. It was also the 41st goal of her NWHL career.

Watch closely here to see how Dempsey’s active stick slaps the puck off of Curmova’s stick before she turns on the jets to get past Marie-Jo Pelletier and out-race Sara Bustad. Beauts goaltender Mariah Fujimagari appears to go for the pokecheck, but in dropping down to execute it she opened up the top of the net and Dempsey was able to roof it.

Disclosure: the author of this piece is currently employed by the NWHL.