The Colorado Avalanche skated to a 4-0 win over the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets, thanks to a pair of goals from 22-year-old centre Matt Duchene.
But it was his second of the night that got folks on Twitter talking.
Gathering speed through the neutral zone, Duchene made a nifty move to the outside on Blue Jackets defenseman Nikita Nikitin, then slipped the puck between the legs of goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.
That play by @Matt9Duchene was a league promotional video. It should be replayed over and over. 4-0 avalanche. Wow skill, speed, and finish.
— Daren Millard (@darenmillard) January 25, 2013
The absence of restricted free agent Ryan O’Reilly, who is still in contract negotiations with the Avalanche despite terminating his contract with the KHL’s Metallurg Magnitogorsk, has put pressure to score squarely on the shoulders of Duchene and teammate Paul Stastny, wrote Terry Frei of the Denver Post.
On Thursday, Duchene not only scored twice, he added an assist.