When God invented the second assist, many mortals deemed it a bogus statistic meant to pad Wayne Gretzky’s records and make defencemen feel better about themselves.
Some have even called the second assist “hockey’s phony stat.” (Actually, that title more likely belongs to plus/minus.)
But on Tuesday night, forward Joe Pavelski’s pass to the passer was just as worthy of a point as teammate Brent Burns’ goal.
With his San Jose Sharks trailing 4-3 in the third period, Pavelski — who’s now seventh overall in NHL scoring and enjoying the best season of his career — lost control of the puck in the Edmonton Oilers’ zone but still managed a nifty behind-the-leg kick play, hoofing the puck to teammate and setup man extraordinare Joe Thornton, who fed it to Burns for the tying goal.
“I kinda lost the puck, to be honest. Saw Jumbo there, and we talked. I was able to kick it to him. He made a nice little play quick, and then Burnzie buried it,” Pavelski explained.
Afterward, Thornton heaped praise on Pavelski — whose name was the first out of Doug Wilson’s mouth when Hockey Central asked the Sharks GM to pinpoint a team MVP.
“He’s an all around great player,” Thornton told reporters. “He does it all for us.”
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