Florida Panthers winger Brad Boyes is the NHL’s all-time leader with 37 shootout goals, but his latest one-on-one tally was more than a little bit lucky.
The Panthers and Buffalo Sabres headed to a shootout after finishing overtime tied at 1-1 Thursday night, and Florida coach Peter Horachek called on Boyes, who also scored the game-tying goal in the third period, after his first two skaters were unsuccessful against Buffalo goalie Jonas Enroth.
Enroth attempted to psyche out Boyes, his former Sabres teammate, as the winger closed in on him, and the netminder’s gamesmanship initially appeared to work. Boyes’ shot clanged off the left post, but it bounced back into the crease, off the back of Enroth’s leg and into the net.
Florida had held Buffalo’s three skaters scoreless, so Boyes’ goal served as the game-winner, giving the Panthers a 2-1 victory in the battle of Eastern Conference cellar dwellers.
“Being here and going against [Enroth] in practice a lot, he was waving his glove taunting me,” Boyes said after the game, via the Sun Sentinel. “I changed it up a bit. It was nice to get it on him.”
Check out the goal from the master of shootouts in the video below.
