Andreas Athanasiou scores brilliantly nasty goal vs. Dallas (Video)

Andreas Athanasiou is one of those young players whose skills-set leaves veteran teammates awestruck. When we spoke to Brad Richards at last weekend’s Stadium Series game, he was marveling at what ‘Double-A’ could do in the offensive zone.

Richards also talked about how hard it is to keep up with Athanasiou’s blazing speed, which is something the Dallas Stars learned the hard way on Monday night.

Well, that and the Red Wings rookie can deke you out of your skates.

With the scored tied 1-1, Mike Green of the Red Wings sent the puck to center ice. Jason Demers of the Stars dropped to the ice to stop the puck, but ended up leaving it for a streaking Athanasiou to pick up. He moved in on Johnny Oduya and then unleashed an incredible toe-drag to turn the defenseman inside out.

Goalie Antti Niemi apparently bit on the fake, too, as he was far out of position, leaving a gaping net for Athanasiou. He scored his second of the game with ease, with a goal that left Dylan Larkin staring at the Jumbotron in disbelief.

Pavel Datsyuk’s overtime goal would eventually give the Wings the 3-2 win.

Fitting that the Magic Man would cap a night where his 21-year-old teammate made some of his own. 

—

Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at [email protected] or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.