Here’s a look at Garnet Hathaway’s game winner. He makes two sneaky good little plays just before scoring the goal to keep this attack alive. First is the little backhand flip off the boards to start the cycle and get the puck to Noah Cates, who moves it to the point; if Hathaway takes that behind the net, he likely loses it to the Florida defense. Moments later, Noah Cates is making things happen when Hathaway offers himself as an option behind the net.
Two things happen once Hathaway has the puck – Brandon Montour (62) is drawn towards him away from the front of the net, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson (91), who had been pressuring Cates, is frozen a bit. This allows Cates to get away from OEL, and when Hathaway returns the pass, Cates is able to get it to Marc Staal at the point for the shot that led to Hathaway’s goal.
Hathaway, for his part, manages to lose Montour and get into a space that Ekman-Larsson had vacated while sort of pursuing Cates. It’s not a traditional cycle, but it was similarly effective in the sense that it generated opportunities for scoring chances.