McKenna: A Goalie’s Perspective Of Tyler Bertuzzi’s Four-Goal Game
After Thursday night’s four-goal outburst, Tyler Bertuzzi finds himself atop the NHL’s scoring race.
Last season was a grind for Bertuzzi. He posted five goals, but injuries limited him to just nine games played. In April, Bertuzzi underwent back surgery.
Now he’s healthy. And paid. In July, Detroit Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman signed Bertuzzi to a two-year extension worth $4.75 million a season. Judging by Thursday night’s performance, the two-time 20-goal scorer looks like he’s poised for another strong season in the Motor City.
Four-goal games are rare in the NHL. It only happened four times last season – and by some surprising names. Jeff Carter. Jakub Vrana. Rocco Grimaldi. Andrew Copp. And now Bertuzzi joins the club as the first player of the 2021-22 season to score four goals in a single game.
Check out Bertuzzi’s first goal of the night. Is he going fast through the neutral zone? Reasonably so. He’s got momentum. And it’s four-on-four hockey so there’s plenty of room to skate.
But look at the between-the-legs dangle to split the defense! Bertuzzi doesn’t totally clear the Lightning’s Mikhail Sergachev and Victor Hedman, but he gets far enough in front to make a strong play towards the net.
And here’s the key: when Bertuzzi gets to the hash marks, he quickly transitions the puck from his backhand to forehand. Andrei Vasilevskiy can’t catch up to the sudden change of angle and the puck goes in just above his pad blocker side.
It’s a highlight reel goal and a major confidence boost.
As pretty as his first goal was, it was somewhat out of character for Bertuzzi. According to InStat Hockey, 46 of his 58 NHL goals have been scored directly in front of the net.
He’s a grinder. He’ll muck it up in front of the net. But Bertuzzi has sneaky good hands and plenty of hockey sense.
I saw it firsthand in 2017 when I was playing in the AHL for the Syracuse Crunch. We faced Bertuzzi and the Grand Rapids Griffins in the Calder Cup Finals – where they beat us in six games.
Bertuzzi scored three times in the series and was awarded the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as MVP of the Calder Cup playoffs.
He was willing to go to the hard areas and constantly hovered near the edge of my goal crease. Bertuzzi’s second goal from Thursday night looked like a carbon copy of what I faced playing against him. He would do anything to get the puck across the goal line.
Bertuzzi’s third goal was during a four-on-three power play. Notice his awareness. Early in the clip he looks at the scoreboard and checks the time left on the powerplay. It’s a small detail but it lets Bertuzzi know the urgency of the situation.
Detroit moves the puck quickly, and Robby Fabbri ends up finding Bertuzzi on the backdoor. The play is simple. It’s well executed. But it ends up in the net because Bertuzzi has the presence of mind to spin off the goal line. It creates a wider passing lane for Fabbri and a better shooting angle for Bertuzzi once he receives the puck.
Hat trick. But wait – there’s more.
The fourth goal of the night for Bertuzzi is all about confidence. He’s already put three past arguably the best goaltender in the world. Why not walk to the slot and fire the puck top shelf? Bertuzzi sees that Vasilvelskiy is low and wide. The goaltender has failed to regain vertical coverage after moving off his post. Bertuzzi’s shot glances off Vasilevskiy’s shoulder and into the net.
It was a career night for Bertuzzi, and it wasn’t by chance. All four goals required him to make a smart decision. And he had to finish.
Can Bertuzzi score 25 goals this year? If he’s healthy – and in the lineup – I wouldn’t bet against it.