During his brief tenure as a Detroit Red Wings defenseman, Libor Sulak established that his defensive game wasn’t his long suit.

In six games with the Red Wings during the 2018-19 season, Sulak failed to register a point and was a minus-four.

Playing for Admiral Vladivostok against Ak Bars Kazan in a KHL game on Monday, Sulak scored one of the most bizarre own goals you’ll ever see in a hockey game.

Libor Šulák zkušeně zakončil do vlastní branky a ve vlastní přesilovce zvýšil na 4:2 pro Kazaň! 🚨

😀😀😀😀 Rusko… pic.twitter.com/UtdxQrPEeZ

— Vojtěch Tůma (@vojtechtuma7) January 19, 2026

Admiral was on the power play. Sulak, a gifted offensive performer and the Admiral captain, began carrying the puck up ice from behind his own net. He was under no forechecking pressure from the Ak Bars penalty killers. Suddenly, he turned, evidently seeking to pass the puck to a teammate standing on the other side of the Admiral net.

Instead, he slid the puck directly through the legs of his unsuspecting netminder, Arseniy Tsyba.

The goal was credited to Ak Bars defenseman Ilya Karpushin. It was scored three minutes into the third period. At the time, Admiral was trailing 3-2. Ak Bars would go on to win 5-2.

Admiral coach Oleg Bratash refused to throw Sulak under the bus for his brutal error.

“If it hadn’t been for Sulak’s own goal, could we have held on for the result?” Bratash asked after the game, according to the KHL website. “The subjunctive mood doesn’t work here. The result is on the scoreboard, so you can say whatever you want now.”

One of the two Admiral goals was tallied by another player who was briefly with the Red Wings, forward Dmytro Timashov. Timashov played five games for Detroit during the 2019-20 season, collecting no points.

Panarin Ties Former Red Wings Star

Artemi Panarin scored twice as the New York Rangers doubled the Philadelphia Flyers 6-3 on Sunday. However, it was his one assist that proved to be a milestone.

There haven’t been many more players that have been more fun to watch in the history of hockey than Pavel Datsyuk. pic.twitter.com/own8449MFl

— The Hockey Samurai 侍 (@hockey_samurai) January 23, 2024

With it, Panarin tied former Red Wings star Pavel Datsyuk for sixth on the all-time list of NHL assists recorded by Russian players. Both players have 604 assists.

Only Evgeni Malkin (856), Alexander Ovechkin (747), former Red Wings star Sergei Fedorov (696), Nikita Kucherov (682), and Sergei Zubov (619) have accumulated more helpers as NHLers among Russian players.

Fetisov Defends Ovechkin

Washington Capitals captain and NHL all-time goal-scoring leader Alexander Ovechkin has come under some heat for choosing not to participate in Pride Day celebrations during Washington’s most recent game.

Ovechkin was among the Capitals players choosing not to adorn their hockey sticks with rainbow-colored tape during the pre-game warmup.

Hall of Famer Viacheslav Fetisov, a member of the Red Wings’ famed Russian Five and a two-time Stanley Cup winner with Detroit, came to Ovechkin’s defense.

“That’s Sasha’s position,” Fetisov told Russian website RIA Novosti. “He has the right to that opinion.”