William Eklund hasn’t worn a Senators sweater yet, but he’s already got a piece of hardware attached to his name in Ottawa.
The NHL has crowned Eklund’s dazzling solo goal against the Boston Bruins as the league’s goal of the year, with the winner determined by fan voting. Three current Senators landed on the shortlist, and Eklund’s finish ultimately beat out the field.
The play came last season when Eklund was still with the San Jose Sharks at TD Garden. He pushed toward the Boston net, slipped around Bruins defenseman Andrew Peeke and fired an initial shot on Jeremy Swayman. Swayman stopped it, but Eklund kept with the puck as he went down, found the rebound in mid-air and somehow batted it past the Bruins goalie while falling.
The result was the kind of sequence that stops you in your tracks: puck skill, hand-eye coordination and body control all packed into one ridiculous moment. It also came at 8:20 of the third period and helped San Jose to a 4-2 win. Eklund picked up an assist in the game as well and was named the second star.
Ottawa was well represented in the voting beyond Eklund. Andre Burakovsky’s between-the-legs finish made the final six, along with Tim Stutzle’s solo rush, where he split the Carolina defense and then pulled off a sensational move at the net.
For Eklund, the award adds another layer to a season that had its own weird rhythm. That goal snapped a personal drought that had stretched through 30 games. He had gone 19 straight without scoring before it, then went another 10 games without a goal afterward.
Even with that dry spell, he still finished the season with 15 goals and 53 points in 78 games.
Now he’s set to try to create a new collection of highlights in Ottawa. The Senators aren’t asking him to be Brady Tkachuk’s replacement in every sense. He won’t bring the same physical edge, but he does defend better and offers more speed.
And if the NHL’s voters needed any reminder, Eklund has the kind of creativity that can turn a regular night into the league’s best goal of the year.
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