Calgary Flames Top 10: Johnny Gaudreau Moments
By Luke Ryan
May 8, 2015; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Calgary Flames left wing Johnny Gaudreau (13) controls the puck against the Anaheim Ducks during the first period in game four of the second round of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Saddledome. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports
The Stanley Cup Playoffs. Another combination play with Sean Monahan to net a Calgary Flames goal. This time Gaudreau offers up the assist, but not before turning a Ducks defenseman inside out.
Skating from center ice and sweeping the puck right across his body in moving past Lindholm, Gaudreau shows just how deft his touch is with the puck at his feet and a stick in his hands.
Not many players would have been able to pull off such a move in a regular season game, let alone in a high-pressure environment like a play-off game.
Also bear in mind, this wasn’t some rookie defenseman he was taking on. Hampus Lindholm at that point was coming off two seventy-eight game seasons with the Anaheim Ducks, as well as a forty-eight game year in the AHL. Despite his relative youth, hardly an inexperienced blue-liner.
Obviously, this one goal wasn’t enough to turn the series around as the Calgary Flames eventually saw themselves eliminated at the hands of Anaheim, but in that one moment Gaudreau showed his potential as a Stanley Cup game changer.
The obvious hope now is that he gets another chance and is able to do this in a Stanley Cup final for the Calgary Flames.
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