Craig Anderson had an awful time trying to stop Johnny Gaudreau’s shootout attempt Sunday. Anderson bit on every single deke of Gaudreau’s and was left hanging his head once the Flames rookie slid the puck home.
Johnny Gaudreau shakes Craig Anderson with beautiful shootout moveLove the shootout or not, it’s impossible to deny that the skills competition provides some incredible highlight reel fodder. Johnny Gaudreau’s Sunday is case in point.
Coming down one-on-one against Craig Anderson, Gaudreau didn’t just put one great move on the Ottawa Senators goaltender, he used so many that Anderson started to look like a robot gone haywire. Gaudreau strated with a leg kick, on which Anderson bit, followed that up with a fake to the backhand which drew Anderson to his left and finished it off by going forehand to push the puck between Anderson’s legs and into the net.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EXr7b6R_OQ[/embed]
Once you’ve seen the goal the first time, do yourself a favor and watch the replay once more. This time, focus on Anderson.
After committing to every single fake of Gaudreau’s – including biting so hard on the backhand fake Gaudreau had enough room to put the blade of his stick through Anderson’s five-hole – Anderson is in no position to make the save by the time the puck is crossing the goal line. The way Anderson hangs his head after the puck goes through his five-hole tells the whole story.
The shootout goal was Gaudreau’s second such marker of the season, tying him with Sean Monahan for the Flames’ lead with a 40 percent conversion ratio. Gaudreau’s tally wasn’t enough to give Calgary the win, though, but the single point puts the Flames two points ahead of the Los Angeles Kings for third place in the Pacific Division.
