Nikita Kucherov performed a voodoo spell on Robin Lehner in the Tampa's 2-1 shootout win over the Buffalo.
No. This was not a gaffe nor a flubbed shot.
Kucherov said after the game his shootout winner was a designed play.
"That's ballsy," Tyler Johnson said. "That's a goal that's going to be on YouTube forever."
His teammates and head coach said that Kucherov works on this greasy move and others practice.
Stick fake over the top of the puck like you are going to shoot and just let the biscuit do all the work. The shot is akin to a hypnotist waving a watch before your eye and repeating:"Your eyes are getting heavy and you are getting sleepy".......
Poor Robin Lehner. He no had no chance at this bullet with butterfly wings.
"He did it on purpose," Lehner said of Kucherov's virtuoso performance.
"What can I say? Bad by me, pretty sick by him."
Lehner is now 0-for-8 this season in shootouts. Has there ever been an NHL goalie who finishes a season with a .000% save percentage?
Opponents have scored on all eight shootout attempts on Lehner this season.
The Sabres are 1-6 in shootouts. Sabres shootout participants are a lowly 3 for Anders Nilsson is 4-8.
Only St. Louis at 2-12 and Colorado 0-3 are worse.
The Sabres now have 66 points and are 5 points behind the NY Islanders for the second Eastern wild card.
We've seen this movie before. Sabres can't win head to head games against those teams directly ahead of them in standings pic.twitter.com/ROjlbPeCt4
— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) March 5, 2017
**
Jack Eichel's (2 goals, 10 assists) nine-game point streak is longest single-season run by a Buffalo Sabres player since Tim Connolly's 16-game streak in 2009-10.
Eichel's 9-game assist streak is tied for second longest in Sabres team history, trailing only Gilbert Perreault (11) in 1984-85.
In the time since his November 29 return from the high ankle injury that caused him to miss 21 games, Jack Eichel ranks 14th among all NHL skaters with 41 points (15G, 26A) and leads the NHL with 175 shots on goal.
After the Tampa OT loss, Eichel was tied with Jamie Benn for most points since the beginning of February (20) and led all NHL players with 17 assists during that timeframe.
Eichel has scored 26 points (7G, 19A) in his last 23 games, including eight multi-point games during that stretch. The Sabres are 11-1-0 this season (and 20-4-0 in his career) when Eichel has at least two points.
Eichel’s .93 points per game this season rank him 14th among all players with at least 20 games played this season as of the end of last night’s gam
***
Evander Kane has scored each of his 23 goals this season in his last 41 games. Kane is tied for fifth in the NHL with 22 even-strength goals despite not scoring his first until Dec. 3.
Since December 1, Kane is ranked third among all NHL skaters in goals (23), leads the league in even-strength goals (22) and is ranked fourth in shots on goal (156).
Kane’s current pace of .415 even-strength goals per game is the highest by any Sabre with at least 15 games played since Alexander Mogilny’s franchise-best mark in 1992-93 (.636). Only six different players (Mogilny, Rick Martin, Danny Gare, Gilbert Perreault, Rick Vaive and Mike Foligno) in franchise history have finished at least one season with a better rate.
****
Rasmus Ristolainen has a point in 11 of his last 15 games (1 goal, 10 assists).
Ryan O’Reilly has recorded five points (2 goals, 3 assists) in his last three games.