Fresh off an outstanding four-goal performance earlier in the week, John Tavares' showing against the Flyers on Wednesday was...not quite as great.
Not only was Tavares held off the scoreboard during Wednesday's contest in Philly, he was also held to just one shot on goal. That shot on goal did not come on Tavares' shootout "attempt" in overtime, either.
You may be wondering why that word is quotation marks. Let's examine the tape.
Oof. Yeah, not great!
That's got to be the most laughable shootout try of the season, especially considering it came from a guy who is third in the league in goals with a career-high 45 on the year.
Unfortunately, embarrassing gaffes can bite even the most skilled of players, and Tavares found that out the hard way. After the game, he tried his best to explain what happened.
"I just went to stickhandle and kind of make my way towards the net, just trying to get the goalie out of position and lose the feel of his net," said Tavares. "It just bounced up on me and rolled away. It is what it is. Obviously, a tough time for it to happen."
I'll say. Flyers forward Sean Couturier went on to score following Tavares' miss and that goal gave Philadelphia a 5-4 win.
In the end, it's a costly lost point for the Maple Leafs, who are trying to catch the Bruins in the standings in order to secure home ice in round one of the playoffs. Boston beat the Rangers 6-3 on Wednesday, giving them a six-point lead over Toronto with five games remaining each this year.
