The puck was on Leon Draisaitl’s stick for maybe one-tenth of a second before the reigning NHL MVP fired it into the net from an absurd angle between the unsuspecting goaltender’s glove hand and the post. The dreaded short-side goal.
“Sometimes you think there’s a better play to be made,” Draisaitl said. “I’m lucky that I made that decision that it went in.”
Luck ain’t got nothin’ to do with it. Beating an NHL goaltender is an evolving cat-and-mouse game with shooters, who are more accurate than ever before at picking their spots and have the best sticks ever designed at their disposal.