Damien Brunner left the NHL in December 2014 to head back to his native Switzerland, and his second season with HC Lugano has produced one of the greatest shootout goals of the year. Brunner’s amazing move is made better by his great post-goal celebration, too.
Former NHLer Brunner scores jaw-dropping shootout goal, has hilarious celebrationSwiss winger Damien Brunner’s stay in the NHL wasn’t long. Signed by the Red Wings as a free agent in 2012, Brunner played one season in Detroit before spending parts of two seasons with New Jersey. He was released from his deal with the Devils in 2014, though, and headed back to Switzerland to play for HC Lugano.
Over his NHL career, Brunner showed some offensive ability and managed 25 goals and 58 points in 121 games. Nothing Brunner did during his time in the NHL could even come close to comparing to his shootout tally he scored Saturday night for Lugano, though.
It’s impossible to accurately describe the move Brunner pulled off, but he finished the marvelous shootout goal with a Pavel Datsyuk style deke. Brunner then celebrated like a man who knew what he just pulled off, which is one of the nicest shootout winners you’ll ever see:
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2lgZVJsRs0[/embed]
The deke is something to behold, but it’s absolutely made better by Brunner’s arms-out, I-just-did-that celebration while staring down the referee and waiting to be mobbed by teammates.
Through 34 games in the Swiss NLA, Brunner has 13 goals and 32 points, but he’s well off the league’s scoring lead. Currently first in the NLA is former NHLer Pierre-Marc Bouchard, who has netted 10 goals and 57 points in 38 games.
(Video via SwissHabs.ch)