@Matthew Tkachuk sure knows how to dazzle.
The 23-year-old winger put the cherry on top of the Calgary Flames’ 6-0 win over the New York Rangers on Saturday, scoring a fantastic goal with a between-the-legs move late in the third period.
With the crowd still buzzing in the wake of @Milan Lucic’s recent goal, Tkachuk received a feed from @Johnny Gaudreau just a few feet in front of Rangers goaltender @Igor Shesterkin. With his back facing Shesterkin, Tkachuk put his stick between his legs and shot the puck into the top-left corner of the net. Cue the “Plays of the Year” countdown.
@Elias Lindholm picked up the secondary assist on Tkachuk’s sixth goal of the season. Here’s the video of the play, as posted by Sportsnet’s official Twitter account:
Here’s a view of the goal from the stands, including some, er, colourful commentary from the assembled crowd at the Scotiabank Saddledome:
With six goals this year, Tkachuk now sits just one behind Lindholm and @Andrew Mangiapane for the top spot on the Flames’ team leaderboard. He added three assists on Saturday for his first four-point night of the 2021–22 season.
Tkachuk now has goals in four consecutive games and points in six straight. The Flames (7-1-3) now sit one point back of the 9-1-0 Edmonton Oilers for first place in the NHL’s Western Conference.
Calgary will return to action at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Nov. 9 for a Pacific Division clash against the 6-4-1 San Jose Sharks.