While this season has largely been disappointing for the Detroit Red Wings thus far, there have been some bright spots—specifically the play of young players like Anthony Mantha and Andreas Athanasiou.
The latter, who was the 110th overall pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, brings speed and a scoring touch to a lineup that desperately needs both. And those characteristics were on full display Saturday when the Wings hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins in an end-to-end highlight-reel goal that had announcers comparing him to the Magic man himself, Pavel Datsyuk.
Athanasiou picked up a loose puck behind the Red Wings net and cruised up ice with little resistance. He met three Penguins defenders at the offensive blue line and made a quick toe drag move, flipped the puck past the defenders as he skated through them, and then picked the puck back up and went top-shelf on goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury.
The goal put the Wings up 4-3 and ended up being the game winner as Detroit skated to a 6-3 victory. Athanasiou now has goals in four of his past five games.
