The Florida Panthers have reached the Stanley Cup Final for the third straight year, and Aleksander Barkov’s impressive individual effort set up the high-probability shot attempt that resulted in Carter Verhaeghe’s series-clinching goal.
Barkov had the primary assist on Verhaeghe’s game-winning goal with 7:39 remaining in the third period of Game 5 to give the Panthers a 4-3 lead in their eventual 5-3 victory against the Carolina Hurricanes. Barkov broke free from Hurricanes defenseman Dmitry Orlov behind the net and then made a power move toward the middle of the ice before sliding a backhand pass to Verhaeghe, who scored on a sharp-angle attempt from the right side of the net.
NHL EDGE IQ, powered by Amazon Web Services, uses "Projected Goal Rate" (PGR) to estimate the likelihood of a shot attempt becoming a goal at the point of puck release. The actual goal rate (AGR) of all shots this season across the League is 5.1 percent. For context, anything at or above a PGR of 12.0 percent is considered a high-probability attempt.
Barkov’s incredible pass set up Verhaeghe’s shot attempt, which had a high PGR of 28.66 percent. Barkov eluded Orlov and then forward Eric Robinson before his pass caught both defenseman Alexander Nikishin and goalie Frederik Andersen out of position. Verhaeghe’s shot had a major goalie angle (87.73 degrees from puck line) advantage relative to Andersen’s position in the net and led to the goal, which came from the right net-side region.
