Danny Briere is a pretty good player to have the puck in his hands going up the ice against a goaltender, whether it be during a shootout or penalty shot.
Lifetime, hes 3 for 9 in the shootout. Thats a fair average.
That said, Henrik Lundqvist is a good goalie in one-on-one situations, even though once upon a time, Claude Girouxs shootout goal against him put the Flyers in the 2010 playoffs and knocked the Rangers out.
Thanks to Ryan McDonagh gloving a puck in the crease in the final 19.6 seconds of the Winter Classic, Briere was awarded a penalty shot.
Theres a choice between guys on the ice and it came down to Danny or Claude Giroux, coach Peter Laviolette explained. Danny being a natural goal scorer maybe thrives in that area bit more.
Briere took the shot, going backhandforehand at the five-hole. Lundqvist made the save.
You cant always do the same thing, you have to switch it up, Briere said of his failed attempt.
NHL
We all have a few different moves we like to use. Thats what I saw when I came in five-hole and unfortunately, it wasnt the right move.
It happened so quick you didnt think about it. All I kept thinking was that game was going overtime. I gotta score here. I could see it going in. You have to think youre going to score. That is what I was telling myself.
Lundqvist had other ideas.
I just tried to be patient, Lundqvist said. Hes a tricky guy, so if I make the first move, hes gonna score.
Obviously theres a lot of pressure on me there. I couldnt believe they called the penalty shot. It was exciting. The end was pretty intense, but it was great.
Briere had a better chance during a scrum at the left post that led to the penalty shot being awarded.
Had a couple of whacks at it, the puck was in the crease, Briere said.
The puck was kinda stuck against his pad and I was just trying to shovel it in and their defenseman came from behind Lundqvist and swiped it with his hand.
E-mail Tim Panaccio at tpanotch@comcast.net.