7 of the best, most filthiest shootout goals in the history of hockey
By Mary Clarke
5. 2010: Pavel Datsyuk‘s slow-mo toss
Speaking of being embarrassed in a shootout, poor Antti Niemi. It’s not easy to stop a shootout attempt from Pavel Datsyuk — who has a list of shootout goals a mile long and has had his infamous move immortalized by many in the years since — but Niemi was left hanging on this attempt.
Instead of Datsyuk’s usual fast-breaking move, the Detroit Red Wings forward instead baited out Niemi with a lobbed toss of the puck over the netminder’s blocker. Niemi tried desperately to bat the puck out of the way once he caught on to Datsyuk’s game, but by then it was way too late for the goaltender to do anything.
The move was so unexpected that it caught everyone in attendance by surprise, not just Niemi himself. Even Mike Emrick couldn’t help but give out a hearty chuckle at Datsyuk’s goal because of its sheer ridiculousness. Like Eddie Olzcyk states in the replay: “you’re expecting a fastball and Datsyuk throws a changeup.”
Just… pure magic from “The Magic Man.”