Barkov and the Panthers lead Carolina 2-0 in the Eastern Conference Final
Sasha Barkov has pulled off some amazing moves over the years.
For a while he was a breakaway wizard, with eye-popping dekes becoming the norm whenever the Florida Panthers found themselves in a shootout.
As the years went by, it became more difficult to come up with new material.
These days, Barkov saves his best moves for the biggest and most crucial moments.
During Saturday night’s Eastern Conference Final Game 2 in Raleigh, Barkov picked a hell of a time to unleash an incredible move that led to his second goal in as many games.
“I’ve never seen that,” Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice said afterwards.
It was a remarkable goal, not only because of the skill it took to pull it off, but also for the way it caused the goaltender to stop in his tracks and open up half the net.
The play began as an innocent dump around the boards in the Hurricanes’ zone by Carter Verhaeghe.
The puck actually missed the forechecking Matthew Tkachuk and Barkov, but barely. Just enough to draw in Carolina’s defenseman and keep the front of the net empty.
Defenseman Josh Mahura made a heads up play at the blue line, first getting to the puck and then quickly sliding it to Barkov, who was behind the Canes’ defenders and alone on goaltender Antti Raanta.
Barkov moved across the front of the crease while sliding the puck between his legs, faking the popular shot that more and more elite players are trying in the NHL.
By drawing the puck between his legs, Barkov froze Raanta, who was expecting a shot to his blocker side that never came.
That moment of hesitation was enough to cause Raanta to react by going down instead of digging in his right skate and pushing to his left, and Barkov was left with a wide-open side of the net to pop the puck into.
It was flashy as hell and will live on highlight reels for years, but Maurice wants you to know that Barkov only make it look so good because he absolutely had to.
“He pulled that move because that was the only move that was going to work. There is no one-upmanship or showmanship in that man, it’s just not in him,” Maurice said. “He’s the least showboating player I’ve ever coached, by far. Most times he scores, you expect him to skate by the goalie and tap him on the pads and say, ‘sorry about that.’”
Florida’s coach wasn’t the only one who had a jaw-dropping moment after seeing what Barkov did.
The goal came midway through the second period, locking the game into a 1-1 tie that would hold until the eventual overtime winner by Tkachuk.
During the second intermission report on TNT, Pro Hockey Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky spoke about how impressed he was with what Barkov did.
To pull off that move, in that moment, on this stage…Gretzky was captivated.
“That’s one of the greatest moves I’ve seen in the Stanley Cup Playoffs,” Gretzky said.
That’s quite the compliment coming from The Great One.
After the game, Barkov was told of Gretzky’s comments and couldn’t help but smile.
“I’m pretty sure he’s scored a lot bigger goals, but it means a lot coming from him,” Barkov said.
What Barkov and the Panthers are doing is nothing short of extraordinary.
They are two wins away from reaching the Stanley Cup Final.
Clearly, Florida’s best players aren’t wilting under the pressure.
Quite the opposite.
I’ll leave you with some of the Twitter reaction to Barkov’s goal: