Thousands of NHL goals are scored every season. Some are standard run-of-the-mill hockey-style goals, whilst others are worthy of a replay or two at the NHL betting sites. These are five of the best NHL plays in 2023.
5. Connor McDavid (Edmonton Oilers) vs. Ottawa Senators (11th February)
Having scored 64 goals and 89 assists throughout 2022/23 it only seems fair we include the top scorer during the regular season on this list, and to be fair, if we were making a top 50 plays, he would likely feature the most of any player.
That said we are ranking his assist against Ottawa on the eleventh of February as 5TH overall to kickstart this list.
With the Senators on the powerplay, the puck was dumped into their own zone, Connor McDavid hounded Thomas Chabot and eventually stole the puck. Having won possession he waited for help to arrive.
Holding off Chabot and then a second defender right on the edge of the red circle he proceeded to do a few dekes with the puck and when help finally arrived undefended in the opposite red circle, he found a gap between the two defenders and laid it across the ice for Ryan McLeod to slot the puck into the back post with the goaltenders’ eyes still on Mcjesues.
4. Kent Johnson (Columbus Blue Jackets) vs. NY Islanders (24th March)
Kent Johnson scored one of the coolest goals you will ever see in the world of hockey, having picked up the puck right outside his opponent’s red circle, Johnson did one hell of a nice toe drag to avoid the Islanders defender on his case.
Having done this he found himself behind the Islanders goal with a lot of space to play with, so he decided why not?
Johnson proceeded to lift the puck up on his stick and lacrosse styled it into the net as he was pretty much still almost behind the goal. Making the move even better was the fact he was facing one of the NHL’s top goaltenders in Ilya Sorokin.
It’s a goal you won’t see very often and it’s named “The Michigan”. Johnson scored a very similar type of goal when playing in the World Junior Championships in 2022.
3. Nick Seeler (Philadelphia Flyers) vs. Las Vegas Golden Knights (14th March)
Nick Seeler pulled off a move here which you would expect from Connor McDavid or Wayne Gretzky. It was probably the Philadelphia Flyers goal of the season, and he is a defenceman to top it off.
Seeler takes a shot which gets blocked, but he then finds himself on the edge of the red circle with 4 Las Vegas defenders in his vicinity (two right in front of the goaltender and two to his right).
It’s at this stage that Seeler’s instinct takes over, he moves forward with the puck and dekes left to right, throwing the puck between Shea Theodore’s legs. Next up is Brayden McNabb, who slashes at the puck to no avail, as Seeler has already deked the puck away from him.
Next up is Johnathan Quick in the crease and a quick wrist shot swiftly throws the puck past him. All this happened in the blink of an eye, not bad for a guy who had only ever scored 7 NHL goals in 225 games up until then.
2. Trevor Zegras (Anaheim Ducks) vs. Seattle Kraken (7th March)
How do we even describe this goal?
It’s truly one of the coolest goals you will see scored on the ice and was pure skill from Trevor Zegras on this occasion.
On the attack, Ryan Strome found space in between the defenders (the pass alone was worthy of a mention) and as the puck bounced behind the Seattle defender, it ended up on the end of Zegas’s stick, almost by pure luck, but we know it wasn’t because he did the hard work to get himself into that position waiting for the pass.
Finding himself right in front of the net but slightly to the left of the goalpost Zegras then throws the stick between his legs and slots it right past the goaltender into his far post. Having not expected Zegras to shoot between his legs, he was nowhere near saving the shot.
1. Mitch Marner (Toronto Maple Leafs) vs. Edmonton Oilers (11th March)
The Edmonton Oilers received the puck in their own half, and thinking there was no danger Ryan McLeod looked to his left but suddenly the once-back-skating Mitch Marner was getting hot in his tail. McLeod attempts to pass between the lines to his fellow Oilers teammate, only for Marner to intercept the pass right in front of the net.
If this wasn’t all impressive enough, he then proceeded to turn his back on Stuart Skinner (goaltender), who at this stage had no idea where the puck was.
Marner had McLeod closing him down, so he decided to do a deke and spin and with some quick hands brought the puck around the goaltender and away from McLeod, eventually finding himself left with nothing but net. Although there was only net in front of him, the puck actually hit both posts before failing into the goals.
He didn’t mean the double post hit, or did he?
Don’t pass the puck between the lines when Mitch Marner is on the case.
