The twenty-sixth minute ran. Zegras found himself with a disc behind the opponent’s goal. He wondered what to do with him, looking for the perfect moment to pass to one of his teammates.
In the end, he chose a truly unconventional solution. With a clever bend, he sent the puck over the goal, moreover, exactly to the places where the prepared Milano lurked, who cleaned it from the air into the net.
Take a look at the great combination of Trevor Zegras and Sonny Milan:
“Wow, my God, that was an incredible goal,” shouted the commentator as fans at the KeyBank Center became completely muted. And they weren’t the only ones.
Goalkeeper Ukko-Pekka Lukkonen recovered from the collected goal for a few seconds. The other players on the ice and on the substitutes turned in confusion. As if they didn’t believe what they just saw.
Zegras showed a very similar reaction. The 20-year-old gripped his head and watched Milan arrive with his mouth open, who, on the contrary, celebrated loudly.
“Probably the best assist I’ve ever seen,” said Kevin Weekes, a hockey analyst at ESPN and the NHL Network. And how did the main actors see the whole situation?
“I expected him to do a michigan. I shouted at him to try it, but he still didn’t have to, “explained the author of the winning Ducks shot after the match.
Zegras is not surprised. Technically refined and demanding finishing requires proper preparation, few people can perform it successfully. In the past, it went well for Mikael Granlund, Andrei Svečnikov and at the recent Karjala Cup, also for 16-year-old Matvej Mičkov.
“I thought I’d give it a try, but I’d rather pass. I still can’t believe we really did it. I tried it a few times in training, but I didn’t succeed at all, “admitted nine drafts from 2019.
He jumped into last year only during its course. This time he got the trust from coach Dallas Eakins right from the beginning of the basic part, he played most of the matches in the first formation.
So far, so good. With 22 points, he is Anaheim’s second most productive player. Among the newcomers, he shares the first position with the Swedish striker Lucas Raymond from Detroit. It amazes with speed, dexterity and impudence.
“She is incredibly creative. He believes he can do anything with the puck. No one in our generation would dare do such a thing, but it is absolutely right that they are trying to do so. Hockey is supposed to be fun, “said the 54-year-old Ducks coach.
“His imagination and self-confidence know no bounds. I absolutely love watching him, “added TSN analyst Craig Button.
Milan is also having a good season. In Columbus, which chose him from the sixteenth position of the draft in 2014, he could not succeed for a long time. He entered the fourth formation, spent matches in the stands or traveled to the farm.
The exchange to Anaheim was supposed to be a necessary impulse for him, but health problems allowed the American forward only six starts in the 2020/21 season.
The game’s rise, supported by a balance of almost a point per match (twenty-two matches, eight goals and twelve assists), has come now.
“It simply came to my notice then. You never know what he’s coming up with. I’m glad to have them on my side, I don’t want to play against them, “said experienced defender Cam Fowler with a smile.
But the Ducks’ solid performances are not just about Zegras with Milan. Troy Terry scored at the beginning of the season in sixteen duels in a row, with fifteen accurate hits belonging to the elite ten shooters.
Ryan Getzlaf, Adam Henrique and Kevin Shattenkirk show that they can still be valid with age. Traditionally, John Gibson, one of the adepts as the number one goalkeeper of the USA for the Olympic Games, reliably catches up.
Put all the factors together and you’ll suddenly understand why Anaheim, one of the NHL’s weakest teams in previous years, is in third place in the Western Conference and is struggling to advance to the playoffs.
The next match awaits coach Eakins’ charges in two days on the ice of Columbus. The Blue Jackets’ defense can be expected to pay close attention to Zegras and Milan.
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