Evgeny Kuznetsov scored on a penalty shot with his signature move in Game 5.
The home crowd at PNC Arena was treated to a special goal late in the first period of Game 5 as Carolina Hurricanes center Evgeny Kuznetsov had the chance to pull off his signature move, the 'Kuzy Crawl.'
After New York Islanders defenseman Alexander Romanov covered the puck with his glove in the crease, the Canes were awarded a penalty shot and Kuznetsov got the call.
'Kuzy' came in slow, taking over 10 seconds to get down the ice with his stick handling, and got Isles goaltender Semyon Varlamov to bite before quickly putting the puck home.
"I almost lost the puck there," Kuznetsov said. "I've always been dreaming to have a shootout in a big moment like that. It's not often in those games and I've never had one like that before. It was a good emotions."
It was the third time Kuznetsov had attempted the slow-mo move since joining the Hurricanes, but according to Kuzy, it wasn't quite the same one he attempted before.
"I never attempted this one," Kuznetsov said. "It was a different one. It was a different move."
After the game, Kuznetsov's teammates and coach were asked about the moment:
"We all thought he was going to score," said Brady Skjei. "We've seen that move against us and in the past. He does an amazing job of waiting a goalie out and once he went for that poke check, he slid it right by him. That was a huge goal in a big moment in the game."
"We had a lot of confidence," said Seth Jarvis. "The closer he gets to the net, the more comfortable we feel. We know how nasty he is. He's done it to us a few times so to see it work for us in a moment like that was absolutely massive."
"We had him try it a few times this year and he didn't score and I'm like, 'What is happening?' said Rod Brind'Amour. "Every time I watched him, he scored. It's crazy how it happens in a game where you're not even thinking about a shootout and now all of a sudden he gets a penalty shot. Now, you don't care about the ones in the regular season, this was a big goal at a crucial time. I was happy for him. He's a great player and he contributed big time."
