We've seen Dallas Stars forward Mike Ribeiro pull some magic out of his trick bag during shootouts. Exhibit A is here. Exhibit B is here. And a not so successful Exhibit C here.
During last night's shootout against the Colorado Avalanche was definitely his most creative and jaw-dropping.
Extra footage on YouTube is here. Granted, Ribeiro got help from some sweet backspin, but full marks for creativity for the shootout-deciding tally.
Poor Peter Budaj. It was like Tiger Woods laying up a shot from the fairway onto the green with the backspin that was involved. Did Ribeiro go too far in a meaningless Game No. 81 for his team? From the Colorado goalie in the Dallas News:
"I don't want to say what he does . . . but he jokes around and stuff like that," said Budaj. "It's a lucky bounce. If he does it 20 times, he's not going to score many times because he made a bad shot, but it just trickled in."
The loss ensured the Avalanche would finish outside the bottom two in the National Hockey League and more than likely becoming the next home for highly touted prospect Matt Duchene.
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Out of the playoffs for the first time since the 2001-02 season, Dallas -- besieged by injuries, Sean Avery, and Marty Turco's goaltending earlier in the season -- were playing better hockey in January and February, but the hole they dug themselves into proved to be too deep.
So which between-the-legs shootout goal is better: Ribeiro's or Marek Malik's? But the real question, based on all the factors at play here:
Pass or Fail: Mike Ribeiro's circus shot in the shootout against Colorado.
