Panthers Carter Verhaeghe Gave Up Empty-Net Goal So Teammate Could Score To Help Cats And Dogs

NHL players are usually a pretty charitable bunch, but we've got a pretty cool story from a game earlier this week and it comes courtesy of Florida Panthers player Carter Verhaeghe.

The reigning Stanley Cup champions took on the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night, and honestly, they made it look pretty easy.

The Cats took a 5-1 win — something that would have made it very easy to enjoy Turkey Day — and the win included an empty-net goal for Florida forward Sam Bennett that came off of an assist from Verhaeghe.

Now, it was by no means a gimme, but Verhaeghe looked to have had a shot at the empty cage by shooting right in between the two Leafs defensemen.

Instead, he dished it over to Bennett, who fired it into the back of the net.

After the game, Verhaeghe said that he made sure to get the puck to Bennett, and it turns out that the reason is Bennett donates money to the Humane Society for every goal he scores.

That's very cool, and good on both of those dudes. Good on Bennett for helping out dogs and cats that need homes and good on Verhaeghe for somehow remembering that Bennett does this in the middle of a game.

I love it when players do this kind of thing. Plenty of players have donated to causes based on their stats. I know Flyers tough guy Garnett Hathaway donates money to first responders through his charity Hath's Heroes, donating for every hit he throws (and he throws many).

But my favorite program like this ever is without a doubt former Flyer, Predator, and Blue Jacket Scott Hartnell who used to donate money to his #HartnellDown Foundation every time he fell down on the ice. That led to merch and even a kids' book that helped raise money for charity.