Starting now, Pominville will show up a lot on this list, even if former Sabre Paul Gaustad did most of the work in this case. Jets’ forward Tim Stapleton certainly was not the only person who was taken off-guard by the Goose’s crazy spin-o-rama, which sent a perfect pass to a wide-open Pominville to complete the tally.
Tic. Tac. Toe. This may have been the very best display of passing seen by the Sabres throughout the entire season. If you watch closely, you’ll see that Philadelphia goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov already knows it’s a goal even before Ville Leino takes the shot.
It was almost impossible to realize what Ennis did until you watched the play in slow-motion. Within about three feet of ice, Ennis stopped on a dime and spun in order to get his stick around Penguins’ defenseman Paul Martin. Once he landed the puck, he flicked it up and backhanded it in mid-air into the open Pittsburgh net. This was also in a game in which the Sabres managed to defeat the Penguins easily, starting a nice streak.
This highlight clocks in at 2:16 in the recap, and it’s over before almost anywhere knew what happened. Pominville takes advantage when Victor Hedman fumbles with the puck, and effortlessly steals it away from him. Pommers then just as effortlessly lifts it over a helpless Dwayne Roloson. Just another day at the office for the captain.
If Ennis’ goal on Montreal at the start of this countdown was the prettiest goal all year, then this was the hardest-working one. Pominville demonstrated why he deserved to wear the C by plain out-working Alexander Ovechkin and single-handedly beating the goaltender shorthanded. His reaction to the goal—holding both arms like a boxing champion who just defended his title—could not have been more fitting.