In a battle between two of the top 10 teams in college hockey, Miami University and the University of Denver had a trip to the National Collegiate Hockey Conference final on the line Friday night in Minneapolis. The game featured a number of top quality NHL prospects, many of whom are already drafted.
One player that doesn’t yet have an NHL home is Miami’s senior captain Austin Czarnik. He’ll be eligible to sign with any NHL team as an unrestricted free agent when his season ends and did he ever put on a show Friday.
With Miami leading Denver 3-1 in the second period, Czarnik became a one-man show in the offensive zone. With 1:49 to play, Czarnik picked up a loose puck in Denver’s zone on the halfwall. He took it to the far corner, then back up to the top of the faceoff circle, then back down low, then to the front of the net where he slipped a backhander through goaltender Evan Cowley.
That was about 15 seconds of continuous puck possession from Czarnik, It was somewhat reminiscent of the crazy goal Detroit Red Wings forward Gustav Nyquist scored against the Ottawa Senators back in December.
The goal was Czarnik’s ninth of the season. He also notched an assist earlier in the game and has 42 points in 38 games. At 5-foot-9, 160 pounds, he isn’t a sure bet to earn an NHL deal after the season, but he’s at least giving NHL GMs something to think about at this late stage of the season. That can’t hurt.
[H/T The Cauldron]
