Canadiens score controversial empty-net goal in the second period.

What a way to end the year.

On Sunday night we were treated to what may very well go down as the most bizarre goal scored in the National Hockey League in the 2023 calendar year, and we got it just hours before turning the calendar to 2024.

The goal would come a little over midway through the second period of the Sunday night clash between the Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena. The goal would come after what appeared to be a stoppage in play, one in which the officials had never actually blown his whistle.

Everyone in the building appeared to believe that the play was over, that is everyone except Canadiens goaltender Samuel Montembeault who quickly pushed his teammates to capitalize on the opportunity. They did just that, scoring a very strange empty-net goal in the middle of the second period.

Now technically there was a goalie on the ice, but he was nowhere near the net at the time given that the entire Lightning roster was behaving as though they were headed to a break.

Here's a look at the replay of this truly bizarre scene: