Since the 2004-05 NHL lockout, the league has tweaked its rulebook to eliminate much of the hooking and holding that used to be so commonplace in the game. The mission was to increase scoring, and create a more finesse product that in turn would attract more fans. Goal scoring is sexy, and sex sells.
The time Gustav Nyquist simply couldn’t be stopped by the Lightning
Gustav Nyquist would not and could not be stopped as he battled through hooks and holds to score a goal worthy of the 3rd spot on our list of the 10 best goals of the 2013-14 NHL season. Let’s break it down frame-by-frame and get thoughts from those who enjoyed it most and those who wish it never happened.
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And on a night in late March this past season, Gustav Nyquist combined the hooking, the holding, and the goal scoring into one giant, sexy explosion of jaw-dropping theater.
J.J. From Kansas, Winging It In Motown: The Red Wings were in a part of the season where we're nervously factoring and refactoring in how many points in the standings they're allowed to waste before the playoff streak comes to an end and came into this game as one that we had already chalked up as a loss (hadn't beaten Tampa yet and played the previous day). Things started out shitty with a turnover that gave Valterri Filppula the first goal, which is a bit like watching your ex-wife make out with her new boyfriend on the hood of the car you can't get repaired because of crippling alimony payments.
But then Joakim Andersson tied the game a few minutes later, as Detroit began to find its footing.
And only a few minutes after that leveling tally, Nyquist took over.
The 3rd best goal of 2013-14
How it unfolded
This play began with Mark Barberio going point-to-point to Matt Carle. Tampa Bay had decent possession the Red Wings zone in the moments leading up to this pass. Carle decided to go goal with a less-than-perfect shooting lane, with Nyquist pressing up to the point. The shot didn't make it through to Jonas Gustavsson, creating a chance for Detroit to transition.
Carle’s try ended up on a Detroit up on a Detroit stick, while Nyquist broke the other way.
J.J. From Kansas, Winging It In Motown: A puck came loose in the Wings' end and I wasn't even aware that he had taken off up ice until David Legwand collected the loose puck and fired it up to Nyquist with a half-step on the defense.
And in a flash, Carle was beat, and desperately attempting to recover. Nyquist, knowing he had a step on the defenseman, had pushed the puck ahead, creating space to to break free.
Carle then employed his first of a number of illegal tactics to stop Nyquist, coming straight up with the stick and hooking the Red Wings forward. But Nyquist refused to be stopped, warding off the hook and staying on his feet.
With Nyquist getting in tight on Ben Bishop, he brought the puck out wide on his forehand, getting Bishop to move left-to-right in his crease.
But as Nyquist was executing this deke, Carle gets one final whack at him, forcing the puck to trickle off his stick, and toward Bishop’s left pad.
This latest wrinkle to Nyquist’s plans actually proved to be quite vital. As he reached an impossibly low angle on the ice, by having to reach to regain puck possession, it allowed him to spin around, and get his shoulders square and in a shooting position. Meanwhile, Bishop was on his backside in the crease, although with Nyquist’s back to goal, Bishop didn’t need to worry about facing a shot.
This is the part of the play where it looked like the threat was finally averted. Nyquist’s entire body was below the icing line, and Barberio was down and in decent position to block a shot. The amount of space Nyquist had to put the puck on frame was incredibly minuscule, while he had already exerted a good deal of energy navigating the last 100 or so feet of ice.
J.J. From Kansas, Winging It In Motown: Nyquist got grabbed enough that he couldn’t make a clean move, but his determination not to embellish to try and get a penalty shot pays off when the puck comes back to him for a spin-around shot at the side of the net, which finds its way in on the angle.
J.J. From Kansas, Winging It In Motown: I don’t know how family-friendly I have to be here, but my first thoughts could best be described by a crayon-drawn picture of Rocky standing over a fallen Ivan Drago while Pauly helicopters his wiener at the Soviet generals up in the luxury box and fireworks go off in the rafters, blowing the roof away just before the Blue Angels fly by overhead dropping pamphlets on the Russian crowd which read “SUCK IT, COMMIES!”
John Fontana, Raw Charge: The relevant remarks in response to this goal aren't anything meticulous. It's generally just different, profane exclamations. This first period goal basically gave me (and other Lightning fans) the feeling that a season sweep of Detroit wasn't in the cards after all.
J.J. From Kansas, Winging It In Motown: It was probably the most-satisfying goal I saw all season. On a scale of sheer amazement, I've certainly seen more jaw-dropping performances. I'm not actually sure that this one ranks particularly close to the top-ten, but it was certainly my favorite Red Wings goal since Pavel Datsyuk okey-doked the entire Preds team.
The full top 10 list
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