Richard Panik is a magician.
The former Blackhawks player scored an incredible shootout goal for Team Slovakia in a pre-tournament game at the 2019 IIHF World Championships.
Panik is currently playing for the Arizona Coyotes and headed to the tournament after one of his best NHL seasons to date. Panik contributed 14 goals and 33 points in 75 games for Arizona as the team just missed out on making the playoffs.
Panik appears to have taken that success from the NHL directly to the international stage. The Slovakian forward scored an incredible shootout goal in a pre-tournament game against Norway.
It looked like Panik was going to do a backhand toe-drag maneuver, but instead he managed to snipe five-hole with the toe of his stick. The shot completely fooled the netminder, who looked like he was preparing for a deke.
The video was uploaded to Twitter by stickhandling specialist Pavel Barber and went viral almost immediately. It is truly one of the filthiest shootout goals ever scored.
Panik just took a shot with the BACKHAND TOE and snipped five hole….. Put it on repeat have a good night #RareDanglesPB Alert! pic.twitter.com/QfKLOKUm0G
— Pavel Barber (@HeyBarber) May 7, 2019
While it was only a pre-tournament game, you likely won’t see a better goal scored during the entirety of this year’s World Championships. The Worlds are always a great tournament for watching some of hockey’s best players show off their skill while representing their country.
This year’s World Championships will be extra special with players such as Patrick Kane, Jack Eichel, Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Nikita Kucherov and John Tavares all slated to attend the event. While the tournament is loaded with star power, good luck to any player trying to top Panik’s brilliant shootout goal.
You’ll be able to catch all the games in Canada on TSN. The NHL Network will carry most of the games in the United States.
