Sasha Barkov, you are ridiculous.
In the span of about five minutes, Florida’s captain put on a display of hockey skills that left mouths hanging open and eyes popping.
Offensive skills, defensive instincts, strength, awareness, stamina, intelligence… no, I’m not describing Barkov’s skill set, I’m listing everything he displayed during an incredible sequence that led the Panthers to a win over St. Louis. Blues in overtime on Friday night.
At the end of the extra session, Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk and Uvis Balinskis were stuck in their own half for a long shift.
Sergei Bobrovsky made some big saves, but the skaters were clearly exhausted, being on the ice for over two minutes and just trying to hold their position.
The blues smelled blood in the water.
It was at his team’s most desperate moment that Barkov put on his cape and became Superman.
First, Barkov made an aggressive defensive play at the Florida blue line to force Dylan Holloway back into the neutral zone.
Instead of attempting a line charge, Barkov continued chasing until Holloway was completely back in his own zone, where Barkov then reached into his pocket and took the puck.
He then played keep-away for a few seconds against the three Blues players, giving his teammates time to change.
Barkov did such a good job keeping the puck that he ended up penalizing Brayden Schenn for tripping.
“Just great moments from great players,” Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. “Especially the week he had, flying all over the country, he missed some games with illness. He was on the ice for probably two minutes before facing the rest of the team, and those are the things that special players do, for the fans and for the other guys on the bench, sit back and watch that, in awe. “It was fun to be a part of.”
It was an effort to save the game, no doubt.
Listening to the humble Barkov describe the work, it seemed nothing extraordinary.
“I was close to the puck, so I tried to get it off of him and luckily I got it,” he said. “And then we had a power play.”
Did Barkov end up there? No.
After gulping down some oxygen during a brief timeout, Barkov jumped back onto the boards for the next power play.
With the puck back on his stick, Barkov surveyed the scene and concluded that shooting the puck was his best and last option.
He was right.
Dancing with the puck long enough to find the right angle, Barkov fired a wrist shot that sailed through Joel Hofer’s arm and body, fluttering into the net.
“I think the last option was to shoot for me, because I know we had a couple of shooters there and they took them away,” he said. “I just saw the net, tried to put it in and it went in.”
The goal capped an unreal effort by Barkov, which had his teammates shaking their heads.
“It’s just normal, that’s what it does,” Panthers defenseman Uvis Balinskis said with a smile. “It’s amazing.”
Barkov now has 10 goals and 32 points in 24 games this season.
Four of those goals came in their last six games.
He’s playing some of the best hockey of his life right now, and his two-plus minutes of madness during Friday’s overtime was a perfect summary of who and what he is.
“He’s a Selke winner with incredible speed and size, but also great hands,” Maurice said. “There just aren’t many, throughout the history of the game, guys like that.”
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