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bzarcherIn the midst of demolishing Carolina tonight, Nik Zherdev had probably one of his best games of the season. Sharp defense, quick skating offense, snappy play on both the power play and the penalty kill, and going into the final minutes of the game, 2 goals and an assist - he had a piece of each Columbus goal.
When Carolina pulled their goalie to try to force a goal, the crowd came to their feet each time Zherdev got on the ice, begging him to drop one last goal into the net and score his first career hat trick in the NHL. When two passes were broken up, they dropped to their seats with a groan before starting back up again as Zherdev forced a Carolina turnover and charged into their zone with Beech trailing on his wing.
And then, with one defender to beat in front of him and the crowd urging him to strike the puck home, Zherdev did something that I think would have stunned most Jackets fans last year.
He leaned over slightly, made a perfect tape to tape pass to his linemate, and allowed a wide open Kris Beech to get the decisive 4th goal that shut the door on Carolina.
A selfless, classy, incredibly team-oriented play that says far more about what kind of player Nikolai has become than the 10,000 words of blogs you'll probably find about tonight's game.
When Carolina pulled their goalie to try to force a goal, the crowd came to their feet each time Zherdev got on the ice, begging him to drop one last goal into the net and score his first career hat trick in the NHL. When two passes were broken up, they dropped to their seats with a groan before starting back up again as Zherdev forced a Carolina turnover and charged into their zone with Beech trailing on his wing.
And then, with one defender to beat in front of him and the crowd urging him to strike the puck home, Zherdev did something that I think would have stunned most Jackets fans last year.
He leaned over slightly, made a perfect tape to tape pass to his linemate, and allowed a wide open Kris Beech to get the decisive 4th goal that shut the door on Carolina.
A selfless, classy, incredibly team-oriented play that says far more about what kind of player Nikolai has become than the 10,000 words of blogs you'll probably find about tonight's game.
