Mikael Granlund hit the highlight reel again at the IIHF World Hockey Championships today. Just days after he wowed hockey fans with a slick shootout goal against Germany he raised the bar. In the semi-final game against the Russians Granlund pulled a lacrosse-style move reminiscent of Sidney Crosby or Mike Leg, scooping the puck up on his stick and slinging it into the top corner, stunning the unsuspecting Russian goaltender.
The move was made even more impressive by the fact that Granlund was in full stride when he pulled it off. Similar goals by Crosby and Leg were scored when those players were more or less static behind the net. Granlund showed amazing skill to be able to pull it off at high speed with a Russian defender hot on his heels.
The goal made the score 1-0 and eventually stood up as the game winner as the Finns shut out the Russian squad 3-0 to move on to the final where they will face their arch-rivals from Sweden.
See the video clip of Mikael Granlund’s incredible lacrosse-style goal below: