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Photo: David Sheehan/CaliShooterOne Photography
Greene scored a goal, something he has done before, but isn’t exactly a regular occurrence for him (his last goal was scored on October 19, 2013, a 5-2 win over the Dallas Stars at Staples Center, an empty-net goal). But even though this was not his first career National Hockey League goal, this time, Greene scored on a deflection/re-direction in front of the net, something he said that he has never done before.
Indeed, Greene is a stay-at-home defenseman who virtually never jumps up into the play, so what on Earth was he doing in front of the net?
“I was just trying to open up some ice for the forwards,” he said. “[Center Anze Kopitar] comes up the wall, so you just try to get out of his way and drop down.”
“That’s something that we work on in practice,” he added. “I found myself down there, kind of out of position, but then the puck came, so that was it.”
“If he’s coming up the wall, you just go to the middle to try to open up some space for him. Create something. You have to dive in and get back out again. For that one, I just kind of stayed down for a second. That’s not a set play.”
Greene was standing just outside of right crease when he re-directed a hard shot/pass from defenseman Brayden McNabb at left point.
“I saw the pass,” Greene explained. “I saw him look at me, so I figured I’d stay there for a second. But it’s not going to happen again. I’m really not going to try that play again. That’s a once-in-a-lifetime-deal there.”
As reported earlier, Greene had never scored on a re-direction in front of the net, and when he did, he looked like he was stunned. When asked what he was thinking, he said, “What am I doing down here? That’s the first thing. I don’t know. It’s just a weird deal.”
Kopitar may have thought it was a weird deal, as well.
“At first, I didn’t know it was Greenie, I didn’t know he had that in his repertoire,” Kopitar said, with a grin. “But it was a great play from Brayden to see him, and obviously, a great tip to get us on the board.”
Although Greene does indeed have that type of goal in his repertoire, as he indicated, don’t count on seeing that from him again.
“Shouldn’t have been there in the first place, and then you get a back door [play],” he noted. “It’s just a tap-in.”
“It’s kind of funny the way the game works.”
Related Video
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- Frozen Royalty Video: Interviews With Matt Greene, Jake Muzzin, Tanner Pearson and Darryl Sutter
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