Russian Hockey Player Stuns With Disgusting Shootout Goal Straight Outta Pavel Datsyuk’s Play Book
Nothing like a filthy goal during the NHL offseason
Thankfully, hockey season is on the horizon because during the summer months, I kind of go through hockey highlight withdrawal.
I find myself looking around the internet for any eye-popping on-ice moments from anywhere around the globe.
If some dude goes top-shelf on a pond in the mountains of Uzbekistan, it makes my week.
Hell, when David Booth scored a highlight reel goal in the Australian Hockey League a few weeks ago, I practically dove over my desk like a character in a '70s cop show sliding across the hood of his car because I was that excited to write about it.
Well, we've got another such moment coming to us from a league I was completely unfamiliar with — Russia's VHL, or All-Russian Hockey League — and it might be one of the cheekiest shootout goals I've ever seen.
Earlier this week, two of the league's teams, Rubin and Samara, found themselves in a shootout, and in the fifth round, Rubin's Pavel Meshkov had to score to keep the game alive.
Boy, did he ever score, and did it with a move that the goalie will be seeing in his nightmares for years to come.
That is just disgusting. That goalie has a family.
I think Meshkov probably knew before he stepped on the ice that this particular netminder had a habit of over-committing, and once he got him moving, all he had to do was slide that biscuit like a curling stone just inside the far post.
As I said, cheeky as hell. Like, cheeky enough to get you two-handed across the ribs in a beer league game.
It also reminded me of one of the all-time great shootout goals from a guy who, for my money, had some of the best hands of all-time, Pavel Datsyuk.
Wait a second…
They're both named Pavel, and they baited the goalie into committing, then sent a slow-moving puck the other way for a cheeky shootout goal.
I think we can officially call this the Pavel Move™!