Connor McMichael explains viral pointing moment before Cole Hutson’s first NHL goal: ‘You only get one chance to score in your first NHL game’

Cole Hutson made history in his Washington Capitals debut, scoring his first NHL goal — a rare empty-net, power-play tally — with 26 seconds remaining in the game.

Though if Hutson had his way, his milestone marker would have come another night.

“Didn’t really want to shoot it, to be honest,” Hutson said with a small smile postgame. “I was looking to pass the whole time, but you got to get your first one eventually.”

Hutson might have been conflicted in the moment, but he basically had no other option but to go for the goal. On a two-on-one with Connor McMichael and seemingly unaware that Alex Ovechkin had joined the play looking for his 1,000th career goal (regular season and playoffs combined), Hutson “couldn’t even pass to [McMichael] if [I] tried” because “he had no stick on the ice.”

“I think my stick was on the ice,” McMichael clarified to RMNB after practice on Thursday, “but I only had one hand on my stick, so he definitely made the right choice.”

Not only that, McMichael went viral for how he ridiculously waved and pointed at the net, like he was an amateur airplane marshaller.

“I think it was pretty obvious I didn’t want that puck,” McMichael said before cracking, “I didn’t want the fan base to turn on me.”

Like many fans, Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery found McMichael’s gesturing humorous, doing his own over-the-top impression of how little McMichael wanted to score.

“[McMichael is] doing everything other than pulling flares out and saying, ‘Do not pass me the puck,’” Carbery said. “And I can see him hand signaling like, ‘No, do not even think about passing it over to me.’”

The Capitals forward said that as soon as he saw Cole’s face, he had no interest in boosting his goal total to 11, even in a contract year where every extra point matters.

“I went up on the two-on-one, and then once I realized it was him, I kind of bailed,” McMichael said. “I think it’s a moment that he’ll remember forever. You only get one chance to score in your first NHL game, so it’s definitely a moment that he’ll remember a lot more than me, and so I’m really happy for him.”

McMichael’s refusal to take the puck was reminiscent of Ovechkin’s 802nd goal on December 23, 2022, though on that occasion neither Ovechkin nor Evgeny Kuznetsov wanted the puck. The pair played a brief game of hockey hot potato -— nearly missing the opportunity to score entirely —- before Ovechkin scored on a no-look shot from the boards to pass Gordie Howe for second-most all-time goals.

As for how Hutson’s first game with the Capitals went, McMichael had nothing but praise for the 19-year-old defenseman.

“It didn’t look like an NHL debut to me,” McMichael told Monumental Sports Network’s Al Koken on the postgame show. “I think he’s so poised, so good with the puck, and really skilled. So he’s got a real bright future, and he’s going to be a Capital for a long time.”

When Koken asked McMichael if he remembered his Capitals debut, an empty-stadium game on January 24, 2021 against the Buffalo Sabres during the pandemic, he replied, “I do, I do. I mean, I think I would have been a lot more nervous if there was 18,000 people in the building. But, yeah, he for sure outperformed me.”