Van Riemsdyk ties fastest goal to start period

James van Riemsdyk of the Toronto Maple Leafs tied the NHL record for the fastest goal from the start of a period when he scored four seconds into the second period against the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday night.

Tyler Bozak won the draw to van Riemsdyk, who raced into the Flyers zone and beat goaltender Steve Mason to tie the game 1-1.

"[Bozak] made the play, pretty much," van Riemsdyk told the Maple Leafs website. "We kind of looked at each other before that start of the faceoff and he decided he was going to try to push it ahead. ... He made a great play, I just fired on net."

Van Riemsdyk tied the record set by Claude Provost of the Montreal Canadiens, who scored four seconds into the second period against the Boston Bruins on Nov. 9, 1957. Denis Savard of the Chicago Blackhawks scored four seconds into the third period against the Hartford Whalers on Jan. 12, 1986.

The Flyers won, 4-2.