I’ve done it once before here with a gorgeous goal by Hemsky and after seeing that Petry goal last night I thought that this was something I wanted to watch over and over again. So let’s take a look at the beautiful give and go play from Petry and Nugent-Hopkins again.
Soak it in. Watch it a few times and let the excitement from last night warm you up on this cool October day.
PROLOGUE
Ryan Jones had as much to do with the goal as anyone else except he wasn’t on the ice when it happened. He wasn’t even on the bench. He was sitting in the penalty box across from Ryan White of the Canadiens.
Jones made an absolute boneheaded play on the Gallagher goal where instead of making the simple play up the boards to relieve the pressure the Habs were applying he decided to make a Hail Mary pass across the ice. The pass was, predictably, intercepted and Gallagher came down with speed against an Oilers squad moving the wrong direction.
Jones wasn’t stapled to the bench and he responded by making better decisions and playing a much stronger game. In the 3rd he ended up redeeming himself. The shift before this Petry goal occurred Tylick Pitlick absolutely demolished Gionta in a play that MAY have been somewhat borderline in the sense that Gionta had put himself in a dangerous position. After the hit the Habs came to the defense of their Captain and Jones stood up for the Oilers newbie and ended up getting coincidental minors with Ryan White.
The game went to 4v4 and it left the ice open for an Oilers squad who was ready to use their speed and skill against the Canadiens.
THE GOAL
The 4v4 play is underway already at the time the video begins. The Habs have gained the Oilers zone and Brian Gionta has just passed the puck from the half wall back to Diaz who was waiting for the puck at the blueline. At this point the video begins.
Nugent-Hopkins pressures Raphael Diaz at the point, ensuring that the defenseman does not get the shot off that he intended. Had he given him a little more space then perhaps the Canadiens player would have hit the net with his shot or found Plekanec with a hard pass. Instead his shot missed every conceivable intended target and careened around the boards up the right hand side.
Gionta right now is deep in the Oilers end and Plekanec, Eberle, and Gorges race towards the puck on the right wall. The decision by Gorges to pinch here and try to keep the puck in the Oilers’ zone proves to be a poor one. The Oiler forwards were defending up high in their own zone and while at this point it is a 2 on 1 for Montreal at the wall, RNH is poised to take advantage if the puck keeps moving up the boards and out of the zone.
The Puck gets to Eberle sooner than perhaps Gorges anticipated and Plekanec recognizes this so he goes to cover for his defenseman on the point (3 second and 27 second mark on the video). The puck rang around the boards and up so quickly that Gorges isn’t even in position to battle for the puck with Eberle when it gets to him. Eberle gets the puck in his feet and kicks it out to Petry who has built up a little bit of speed coming from deeper in his own zone up to help.
At the 5 second mark of the video you can see Petry now has the puck with more speed than the Canadiens expected skating out of his own zone with Gionta trailing and Gorges all but standing still. Plekanec is now skating backwards but not nearly fast enough to be effective at all and Diaz has retreated really far back but is still out wide to the play.
As soon as Petry gained possession of the puck RNH shot up the ice on the outside of Plekanec, hoping to take advantage of the forward playing the wrong position. Plekanec, without the speed to keep up to the Nuge, tries to pressure Petry. Almost as soon as Plekanec waves his stick towards Petry the underrated defender feathers a pass up to Nugent-Hopkins.
The 9th grader with effortless skating ability now has the puck in full stride as he crosses the blueline into the Habs zone. Plekanec has to turn so he is skating forwards again which prevents him from gaining any speed and Gorges is desperately trying to catch up to the play but RNH is already at the top of the circles before Gorges even crosses the blue.
Diaz had obviously not anticipated Plekanec’s inability to keep up with the play and everything happened so quickly that when RNH enters the zone he is way too far away from him to do anything about it. Compounding things, the man who made the feather pass to Nugent-Hopkins (Petry) has continued skating and makes himself a perfect target for a pass.
What the Habs on the ice believed was a 2-1 puck battle for them in Edmonton’s zone has quickly turned into a 2-1 the other way. Diaz should have conceded the shot to Nugent-Hopkins and taken away the pass but RNH sells the shot so convincingly that Raphael (my favourite Ninja Turtle) is drawn in to the shooter. Note the 8 second mark of the video. RNH is at the faceoff dot with ample room to shoot and it looks like he is about to do just that.
Diaz tries desperately to prevent a pass from RNH but Nuge’s speed causes him to get twisted around and slide wildly into the Oiler centerman. Price had been fooled so well by Nugent-Hopkins that if Petry gets the puck then it’s a surefire goal. Unfortunately for the Canadiens RNH is a witch and can make a picture perfect pass while a defenseman is sliding into his feet 100 times out of 100.
Petry gets the puck back in the slot with nobody near him and the goalie out of position. He deposits it right in the back of the net without any hesitation at all. 10 seconds from the time Diaz misses his target the puck is in the back of his own net.
MOVEMBER
It isn’t November yet but I will be participating in Movember this year. Movember is about promoting awareness and raising money for Men’s health issues. These are things like Prostate and Testicular Cancer or Mental Health issues.
You don’t have to be a man to be affected by these issues. I know what you’re thinking right now too. You’re thinking, “Matt, I took Bio 30 in high school and I’m pretty sure testicular cancer only affects people with testicles.”
WRONG
Our female readers have fathers, husbands, sons, brothers, or friends who can be affected by these issues and in turn are affected themselves. Cancer doesn’t just affect one person at a time. It affects entire families.
I will be promoting my Movember page through the month of November and if you feel inclined to donate then know that you are helping worthy causes. If you want to grow your own moustaches and raise your own money then it’s all the better.
See how I’m doing and donate here at
mobro.co\MattHendersonHB
Follow Me on Twitter @Archaeologuy 
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