On December 23rd, 2010, the New York Rangers needed to convert their third shootout attempt or else they’d lose the game to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Mats Zuccarello, playing in his first NHL game, hopped over the boards and skated to the center of an anxious Madison Square Garden. He took an extremely slow approach towards goaltender Dan Ellis before swiftly undressing the netminder with what would become his signature backhand-to-forehand deke, extending the shootout.
In many ways, this was a moment which would perfectly foreshadow Mats Zuccarello’s time in the NHL.