TOO MUCH ‘MICHIGAN?’
Are Andrei Svechnikov’s lacrosse-style goals losing their pizzazz? Hurricanes can’t stay down, outscore Blues
Are Andrei Svechnikov’s lacrosse-type goals becoming, dare we say it, more routine?
The Carolina Hurricanes forward scored on the move Tuesday against the Boston Bruins. The first to pull it off and successfully score in the NHL, Svechnikov now has three in his career. So does forward Trevor Zegras — something of a trick-shot artist — with the Anaheim Ducks.
But the “wow” factor to the shot is still there, Canes players said. Coach Rod Brind’Amour, too.
“It should be,” Brind’Amour said Thursday. “When he pulled that out the first time, it revolutionized, actually, minor hockey. Every kid now can do it.”
Including Brooks Brind’Amour, the coach’s youngest hockey-playing son?
“Oh, yeah,” Brind’Amour said “Since that day, there’s not a kid in Raleigh who can’t do it or at least try it. And a lot have perfected it. You watch kids games now and once a game someone is pulling that off and it’s become like normal.”
Svechnikov’s third, against the Bruins, might have been the best of the three.
“It was so fast, so skillful,” Brind’Amour said. “And I don’t think it was the top thing on the (NHL) highlights the next day. It was like, ‘Aw, we’ve seen that before.’ But it’s an impressive skill.”
Taking the puck near the right corner, Svechnikov first made a quick move around Bruins forward John Beecher, carried the puck behind the net, scooped it up on his blade and whipped it past goalie Jeremy Swayman.
And then, a surprise. The puck hit the back bar in the net and popped back out, and there was no referee’s signal for a goal. Svechnikov pointed back toward the net but had to jump back into the play until finally a siren sounded — the signal the shot had been reviewed in Toronto and ruled a goal.
“I knew it was a goal. I knew they were going to call it,” Svechnikov said Thursday.
Svechnikov’s 19th goal of the season came in the second period and was the first of the game as Carolina (50-22-7) went on to a 4-1 victory over the Atlantic Division leaders.
“When you see that in practice, it’s kind of like ‘OK’, but when you see it in a game, at full speed, against a really good team, it’s so much more impressive,” Canes center Sebastian Aho said Thursday. “It takes a lot of skill. It takes a lot of confidence. It’s so impressive to see. I don’t really have that in my mindset.”
Aho, who leads the Canes with 35 goals, said he has tried it in practice. But only practice.
“I don’t really remember ever thinking about it,” Aho said. “But obviously it’s worked well for him, and for sure keeps the other teams on their toes when they see him back there.”
The move has long been called the “Michigan,” since Mike Legg gained notoriety by pulling it off for the Wolverines in an NCAA Tournament game in 1996. But no one had done it in the NHL until Svechnikov against Calgary goalie David Rittich on Oct. 29, 2019. Svechnikov then did it again on Dec. 17, 2019, against Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck.
Zegras scored two in 2022 and his third Dec. 23, 2023.
After Svechnikov’s first, Legg said his phone quickly blew up as everyone wanted to talk about it. In a 2019 interview
Seth Jarvis and Jaccob Slavin each had a goal and an assist for the visiting Carolina Hurricanes in a 5-2 win against the St. Louis Blues on Friday.
Jake Guentzel scored a pair of empty-net goals for the Hurricanes (51-22-7, 109 points), who have won four straight and pulled to within a point of the New York Rangers for the Metropolitan Division lead. Frederik Andersen made 29 saves.
Zack Bolduc and Jordan Kyrou scored, and Jordan Binnington made 36 saves for the
Blues (42-33-5, 89 points), who failed to gain ground in the race for the second wild card from the Western Conference.
Bolduc gave St. Louis a 1-0 lead at 17:34 of the first period. Nick Leddy took a Robert Thomas pass to the left circle before feeding Bolduc with a no-look pass through the seam for a one-timer that went glove side.
Kasperi Kapanen had a chance to double it on a breakaway with just over a minute remaining, but his shot went wide.
Seconds later, Jordan Marti
nook tied it 1-1. Andrei Svechnikov collected the loose puck that bounced up the ice after Kapanen’s attempt and sent a pass to Martinook inside the offensive zone. Martinook then cut to the middle before sending a wrist shot sliding under Binnington’s right pad at 18:59.
Kyrou scored on the power play to put the Blues ahead 2-1 at 5:41 of the second period. With four Hurricanes converging toward him in the left circle, Pavel Buchnevich sent a backhand to the open side of the ice for Kyrou, who beat a screened Andersen under his right arm.
Two minutes later, Buchnevich tried to slide a backhand past the goalie on a drive to the net but was denied at the last minute by the stick of a trailing Martin Necas.
The Hurricanes tied it once again when Jarvis drove down the left side before firing from the top of the left circle to make it 2-2 at 8:07 of the second period.
Slavin gave Carolina a 3-2 lead at 7:53 of the third period when he pinched low in the left circle to direct a Sebastian Aho feed into an open side.
Guentzel scored an empty-net goal at 17:20 and added another at 19:10.
Copyright 2024 Field Level Media. All Rights Reserved.