William Eklund might have scored the goal of the 2025-26 season for the Sharks, if not the entire NHL, in Thursday’s 4-2 win over the Boston Bruins at TD Garden.

With San Jose already up 3-0 about midway through the third period, Eklund found himself in a 1-on-1 in the offensive zone.

What happened next? Just watch and enjoy:

In a postgame interview with NBC Sports California’s Randy Hahn and Drew Remenda, it seemed as though the fifth-year winger still was trying to process his incredible goal.

“I tried to get around him. It was late in the shift, too; it bounced up in the air, and I just tried to get some of the stick on it. It was nice,” Eklund told Hahn and Remenda. “I don’t know. It was just nice to get a goal, to be honest.”

The quality of the goal was noteworthy enough, but it broke an long drought for Eklund, too. Before Thursday, he hadn’t scored since his overtime winner against the Los Angeles Kings all the way back on Jan. 7 — 20 games ago.

Furthermore, Eklund was a game-time decision in the first place with a lower-body injury. Coach Ryan Warsofsky had high praise for the gritty 23-year-old in the locker room.

“He plays through injuries. He’s a tough kid. He wants to be out there,” Warsofsky told reporters. “He wants to make a difference for his team, and I give him a lot of credit. That’s a heck of a goal. … I mean, that’s a goal that you’ll see on highlight reels for a long, long time. That’s one of the nicest goals I’ve seen.”

While Eklund’s aerial finish reminded some of Bobby Orr’s famous “flying goal” to win the 1970 Stanley Cup Final — which also took place in Boston — both the scorer and his Massachusetts-native coach were hesitant to agree with the comparison.

Nevertheless, it’s a goal the Sharks certainly hope will bolster Eklund’s play over the final 19 games of the regular season.

“I’ve been working really hard, you know, to get those apples [assists] in,” Eklund told Hahn and Remenda. “But I can score goals, too, and it’s nice to get those going.”

Speaking of assists, which Eklund hasn’t struggled to pick up lately, he tallied another earlier in the night on the Sharks’ beautiful first goal via Michael Misa.

Thursday’s win moved San Jose back into the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. And with the Stanley Cup playoffs around the corner, a productive Eklund could go a long way to getting the Sharks there.

Download and follow the San Jose Hockey Now podcast