5. Mitchell Marner v. Ottawa Senators
To reiterate. Had this not been scored in a shootout, this goal would be higher on this list. But, it was scored in a shootout and I hate shootouts. However, it’d be unfair to leave it out because of that. The pure craftsmanship of this goal is just too good to pass up on.
Marner comes in slow and does a couple of crossovers to adjust his positioning. A few moves and a wave of his magic wand later, it’s in the back of the net.
It’s not that simple, though. Marner manages to pull off a Datsyukian deke where he pushes the puck to one side and then draws it over on his backhand to slide it home. Pavel Datsyuk was a maven of this art form.
Notice his left skate. He just has the back edge touching the ice to allow him to pivot his body, an excellent tool to make a quick shift. It’s such a creative goal.