Dima losing the puck. Poor guy.

If you’ve ever watched warm-ups before a Capitals or Bears game, you may have noticed a pattern. Dmitry Orlov will spend 10 minutes zig-zagging along the red line, working on his puck-handling skills. Orlov, a defenseman who loves jumping up on the rush like Mike Green, is attracted to offense like a moth to a flame. During his younger days in Russia, Orlov was used routinely during shootouts.

At last year’s Caps Development Camp, Igor Kleyner asked Orlov if he’d like opportunities in the shootout once he came to North America. Orlov nodded and explained,”I think any player would want to get a chance to score in a shootout, although you need to be able to handle the situation mentally,” he said. “You have to be confident; you can’t be nervous. It’s mostly a game of nerves: goalie versus the shooter.”

When Orlov came to America to begin his professional career, his above-average offense was apparent. On November 18, 2011, when the Hershey Bears visited the Syracuse Crunch, Bears head coach Mark French played a hunch and sent out Orlov during the gimmick to see what he could do.

I don’t have video, but Orlov lost control of the puck before he shot. He told us after that game, “the puck just slid off my stick.” Dmitry, who can be very hard on himself, later added, “with a shootout attempt like I just had, I don’t think I am going to be called up [to the Capitals] any time soon.” Two days later after a three-point night, George McPhee and Bruce Boudreau gave him his first call to the big leagues. The shootout miss did not matter so much.

Fast forward a few months to March 13, 2012, Orlov was playing in the 51st NHL game of his career. Boudreau, the only Capitals coach Dima had known, had been canned a few months earlier, and Caps great Dale Hunter was now in charge. After falling behind 4-1 to the Islanders, goals by Alex Ovechkin and Orlov helped forced overtime. After a scoreless extra frame, the Isles and Caps were forced to decide the game in a shootout.

Hunter would give Orlov an opportunity. And we all remember what happened.

Replays of Orlov’s failed shootout attempt were everywhere the next day, even making ESPN’s Not Top Ten list. It was an embarrassment for the youngster. Since then, Orlov has not had another opportunity in the skills competition.

Two weeks ago Igor and I traveled to Hershey to catch up with a few of the players, and we wondered what Orlov thought of the experience last year. Igor and Dima’s interview is below.

Given your shootout adventures last season, would you be willing to try again?

Well, it is not my call, but if the coaches trust me to take another shot… at least I have got to make it all the way to the goal! I am not ready to give up on shootouts. Last year against the Islanders, I just got so nervous, and then the puck just slid off my stick. I was terribly upset. At least we won that game. If we had lost, I would have felt even worse about it. Since we won, I just tried to forget about that moment.

Were you surprised when Hunter asked you to do it?

Not really. I was actually pretty good in shootouts in practice, so they trusted me to do it in the game. I guess they would have been better off not to! The guys were teasing me a bit afterwards, but that’s fine. Just a normal work environment!

A word of wise to Adam Oates and Mark French: don’t be shy to use him again. Orlov may have spectacularly failed once or twice, but he’ll get a big goal soon. He’s not afraid of the big moments — just maybe a little nervous.

Paralyzed high-school hockey player Jack Jablonski drops the puck for a ceremonial faceoff between Parise and Hendricks. (Photo via Defending the Blueline)

When George McPhee traded for Mike Ribeiro and signed Wojek Wolski, he formed perhaps the greatest shootout line-up in the history of hockey. That duo is rounded out by Matt Hendricks, who went 5 for 6 and embarrassed some of the best goalies in the game last season. The Capitals don’t even need Alex Ovechkin or Nicklas Backstrom for the gimmick anymore.

But temper that confidence. On Sunday, NHL players including Zach Parise, new Caps defenseman Jack Hillen, and Hendricks, took the ice for a charity game benefiting Defending the Blue Line. The game brought 3,000 hockey-starved fans out to the University of Minnesota and raised an estimated $50,000 for the children of military parents. It was great, until Hendricks’ shootout attempt at the end of the game.

Hendy shoots at the 1:40 mark.

As Hendricks skates in, everything is going according to plan– until Wild goaltender and evil twin Niklas Backstrom tries to poke-check the puck away. Backstrom’s extended stick forces Hendy to hold on to the puck longer than expected. He runs out of room to shoot on his forehand and misses.

NHL goalies have finally found a way to finally stop the Hendricks’ move. Actually, probably not. Ilya Bryzgalov tried the poke-check last year, Hendricks just deked back to backhand and scored easily. Hendy will get him next time. He’s just rusty. Yeah, that’s it.

Photo via Defending the Blueline

By now we all know Matt Hendricks has Serious Shootout Skills. But the shootout is a gimmick, a sideshow that decides games for no good reason except to entertain fans. The shootout never really meant much… until tonight.

Dale Hunter signing Matt’s name on the shootout roster was like signing a new lease on life for the Caps’ season. Maybe Tim Thomas didn’t do his homework on Hendy’s skills, or Hendy used freaking mind bullets. TT froze like a deer and let #26 skate around him. Awesome, twisted, perfect.

Thomas didn’t really recover from that. He stopped Ovechkin’s shot, but Semin’s and Laich’s moves bested him, and the Caps took two infinitely important points away from Boston.

Plus, the Free Citizen looked like a chump, and that’s like bonus points.

GIF’s

Via Chris Gordon

Via Dimagus

Photo credit: Bruce Bennett

With eight games left in the regular season and the Capitals struggling to hold onto the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, every standings point matters. So when the Caps were unable to break a 1-1 tie with the Flyers after 60 minutes of regulation and a five-minute overtime, the shootout carried high stakes.

Enter Matt Hendricks.

Dale Hunter selected Hendy as the Capitals first shooter. The Blaine, Minnesota native did not disappoint. Hendricks used his patented move, this time baiting Ilya Bryzgalov to pokecheck. Bryz missed, allowing yet another highlight-reel shootout goal for the team’s leader in penalty minutes. Video is below the jump.

Mobile-friendly video

The shootout tally was so great that it prompted Craig Laughlin to exclaim,”[Hendricks] should copyright those moves right there.” Joe Beninati, equally as impressed, observed that Hendricks “paralyzed” Bryzgalov.

Hendricks now is 6 for 10 in the shootout during his three-year career in the NHL. If I were Dale Hunter, I’m putting him in the shootout line-up from now until the end of time.

GIF

Via welshhockeyfan.tumblr.com

Photo credit: Bruce Bennett

In Washington’s 5-4 victory over the New York Islanders on Tuesday, Dale Hunter went with Matt Hendricks in the fourth round of the shootout. That decision paid off. Hendricks, a gritty, fourth-line player who’s known more for his fists than his goal-scoring ability, faked a shot, deked a few times, and then deftly deposited the puck on his backhand into an empty net. No big.

“I don’t like to talk about it too often,” a bashful Hendricks told the media immediately after the game. “I made a move, and fortunately I beat him. [Nabokov's] a good goalie.”

In his three seasons in the NHL, Hendy is a surprising 5 for 9 in the gimmick (2 for 3 in 2011-12, 2 for 4 in 2010-11, and 1 for 2 with Colorado Avalanche in 2009-10). His shootout goals have been featured in SportCenter’s Top Ten Lists and teammate Karl Alzner has referred to him as the team’s “secret weapon.”

But where did these Moves Like Jagger come from?

“I learned it a long time ago back in high school from an old NHLer by the name of Scott Bjugstad,” Hendricks revealed to NHL Live on Wednesday. “He scored about 50 goals in the league. I don’t know. It’s the only [shootout move] I got going for me.”

The Blaine, Minnesota native continued:

It started when I played for Bruce Boudreau [in 2006-07] with Hershey — in the American Hockey League. I used the move down there. When I got the opportunity to play for the Capitals last season, I guess that move was still in the back of [Bruce's] head. He started using me a bit and he found out it worked a little bit at this level too. I got my opportunity for the first time with Coach Hunter last night, maybe he’ll continue to use me now.

It also doesn’t hurt that Hendricks began his NHL career with the most prolific shootout team in the league, the Colorado Avalanche. According to data from NHL.com, the Avs won 9 games via the gimmick — second most in the league, and also featured the league leader in shootout goals, Wojtek Wolski. How good was Wolski? No other shooter came within four goals of him that season. Also, check out this video! (It’s self-evident.)

So while there may always be more sexier options in the shootout, let’s hope that Dale continues to go with Hendy in the clutch. Not only does Matt have ice in his veins, in the words of Capitals color-commentator Craig Laughlin, he has “more moves than a barrel full of monkeys.” And it’s damn entertaining to watch.

Now, for your viewing pleasure, let’s review all 9 of Hendy’s career shootout attempts, in disconcerting reverse order.

March 13, 2012, Against the New York Islanders

Shooting Against: Evgeni Nabokov
Goal

November 12, 2011, Against the New Jersey Devils

Shooting Against: Johan Hedberg
No Goal

October 10, 2011, Against the Tampa Bay Lightning

Shooting Against: Dwayne Roloson
Goal

April 5, 2011, Against the Toronto Maple Leafs

Shooting Against: James Reimer
No Goal

March 22, 2011, Against the Philadelphia Flyers

Shooting Against: Brian Boucher
Goal

February 1, 2011, Against the Montreal Canadiens

Shooting Against: Carey Price
No Goal

January 24, 2011, Against the New York Rangers

Shooting Against: Martin Biron
Goal

January 9, 2010, Against the Buffalo Sabres

Shooting Against: Patrick Lalime
Goal

October 10, 2009, Against the Chicago Blackhawks

Shooting Against: Cristobal Huet
No Goal