Pavel Datsyuk is a dangling magician, that much we already knew.
What we didn’t know is that he could have the time and space necessary to do some of his greatest tricks in the middle of the NHL playoffs.
He was able to do just that this afternoon in the first period of the Wings’ game against Phoenix in Game 2 of their first round playoff series. Datsyuk already had a goal and an assist when he broke in on the right wing side. Carrying the puck on his backhand, Datsyuk readjusted and shot the puck from between his own legs on Ilya Bryzgalov. Bryzgalov stayed cool and made the save but Darren Helm crashed the net and scored to give Detroit a 3-0 lead.
Words don’t do it justice so you’ll just have to watch the video.