Play of the Day: Sebastian Aho’s First NHL Goal

The Islanders entered their January 7th home game against the Devils having lost five consecutive games by a cumulative score of 25-8. The most recent of these was an embarrassing 4-0 shutout loss to the Penguins.

The score was tied 2-2 entering the third period, and the Devils were carrying the play, holding a 34-22 advantage in shots on goal through the first two frames. They scored two goals in the opening minutes of the third period to take a 4-2 lead and, as the midway point approached, the Islanders seemed destined for a sixth consecutive loss.

That is when rookie defenseman Sebastian Aho stepped up and made his first big impact since his late-December call-up. The offensively-gifted blueliner key’d the Islanders’ comeback, scoring his first NHL goal (off a sweet PP snipe) and later adding his first assist (off a beautiful shot-pass) to Cal Clutterbuck for the game-tying goal. The Islanders would go on to earn a 5-4 shootout win, and Aho was a big reason why.

Aho - named an AHL All Star in his first professional season in North America - hasn’t hit the score sheet since then, but he’s looked more comfortable with each passing game, and has shown enough offensive skill to suggest he could very well develop into a positive contributor from the back end.

So here are the first two points of Aho’s career in the Play of the Day:

(YouTube Link)

Now, it’s true that a few weeks have passed since then. I’ve been meaning to show the talented young Swede some love, but I’ve been busy.

I’ve been busy being Sebastian Aho.

That’s right: I am Sebastian Aho. And I’ve been busy doing things that NHL players named Sebastian Aho do. You wouldn’t understand, of course. How could you? You’re not an NHL player named Sebastian Aho. In fact I’m afraid no one can truly understand what that’s like.

No one...except him.

No one except the other NHL player named Sebastian Aho.

The other Sebastian Aho is an obnoxious Finnish winger who wears no. 20 for the Carolina Hurricanes. He had a promising rookie season last year, amassing a certain number of goals and a particular number of assists in however many games he played in. No one's quite sure what those numbers are because the other Sebastian Aho is notorious for falsifying records and committing other acts of fraud.

In fact the other Sebastian Aho is one of Finland's most prominent counterfeiters. His real name isn't even Sebastian Aho; it's Larry Washington. He only changed it in an attempt to pin his crimes on me. This is why I despise him so very much.

This is why I hope to still be here with the Islanders for another two weeks, so I can finally achieve my life’s mission when we go to Carolina to play the Hurricanes on Feb. 16th.

(YouTube Link)

All I’ve ever wanted out of life was to obliterate, humiliate and ultimately prevail over the fugazi Sebastian Aho. This is what I intend on doing on Feb. 16th.

Till next time, friends.