Buffalo Sabers starter Jack Eichel highlighted 2010 for his club with an exceptional short-hand goal on New Year’s Eve.
In Tuesday’s game against the Lightning Tampa Bay against the Lightning Tampa Bay, Eichel missed the chance to score when Yanni Gourde of Tampa Bay slipped while puking in the buffalo defense during a Lightning power play.
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Eichel immediately grabbed the rebound and ran into the Lightning net, wanting to shoot an ice pass to teammate Curtis Lazar. When Tyler Johnson of Tampa Bay cut the passage to Eichel, he took it ahead of the net himself.
The impressive move fooled defender Kevin Shattenkirk and brought goalkeeper Andrei Vasilevskiy off the puk and his desperate win could not stop the Sabers captain from increasing Buffalo’s lead to 4-1.
Shattenkirk and Lightning got the last laugh, however: blueliner Eichel deced scored the third goal of the game and Tampa Bay won their fourth consecutive win with five unbeaten wins in the second half.
Eichel, 23, completed his team’s fourth consecutive loss with a lone goal. His 53 points are seventh among all NHL skaters and his 25 goals behind only division rivals David Pastrnak and Auston Matthews for the lead.
