Is there anyone in the NHL more clutch for $3 million a year than the Carolina Hurricanes' Jussi Jokinen?
His heroics in the 2008-09 Stanley Cup Playoffs and ever-present shootout abilities have earned him the nickname "The Finnisher", a testament to his explosion of scoring late in games as well as a reference to his homecountry of Finland. It was Game 4 of the first round of the playoffs, and the New Jersey Devils had battled back from a 3-goal deficit in the 3rd period to tie the game. The game was certainly headed into overtime, until Jussi Jokinen tipped a shot from Dennis Seidenberg behind Devils' legendary goaltender Martin Brodeur with only 0.2 seconds left in the game. After a legthy review, the latest game-winning goal in regulation of a playoff game was upheld, and Jokinen had his first career playoff goal. That's quite a way to tie a series and restore some hope in your home barn, but Jokinen was far from done.
Days later, Carolina was down by one goal to the Devils in Game 7 of that same series, when Jokinen scored on an off-angle one-timer with 1:20 left to tie the game at 3 a piece. Captain Eric Staal then scored only 48 seconds later to suddenly take the lead, and eventually win the game for Carolina to advance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Hurricanes turned a seemingly inevitable defeat into victory in a matter of seconds, and Jussi Jokinen led the charge.
One round later, Carolina was at home in Game 3 with the Boston Bruins, when, that's right, you guessed it, JUSSI JOKINEN scored early in overtime to win the game and take a 2-1 lead in the series. The Cardiac 'Canes cinderella run was abrubly conculded after being swept by the Pittsburgh Penguins and a beast-mode Evgeni Malkin, but Mr. Jokinen had certainly made a name for himself.Well, last night, The Finnisher was at it again! Carolina was down by a goal to the Washington Capitals, when the Hurricanes attempted the age-old last gas effort of pulling their goalie for an extra attacker. No surprise, Jussi Jokinen stepped onto the ice, and, no surprise, Jussi Jokinen scored with 1:19 left quite a nifty goal to tie the game. The Hurricanes would eventually lose the game in overtime, but seeing The Finnisher kick a stray pass up to his feet and bury the game-tying goal made me reminisce about all of his previous heroics that just seem to be uncanny for him now.
Jokinen has 28 shootout goals in his career, which is the most of all-time in the NHL. He also punches in with a 46.7% conversion rate, and when you consider he's taken 60 shootout attempts (2nd most all-time,) that's really, really good. Unfortunately, I could not find any statistics online regarding overtime-forcing goals, which seem to be his specialty. But from memory I can recall another instance in Pittsburgh during the 2010-11 season, where he scored the 3rd goal of a 3-goal comeback with the goalie pulled to force OT in the CONSOL Energy Center. Of course, when this happened, my mind flashed back to his heroics during the 'Canes 2008-09 playoff campaign, just as they did yesterday night.
You always expect the Crosbys, Ovechkins, Datsyuks, Lidstroms, Webers, Charas, etc., to come up big for you when you need them to. They should! They're among the highest paid and talked-about players the NHL has. On the other hand, is there anyone you'd want on your team late in games that you'd only have to shell out low-millions to have on your roster than Jussi Jokinen? The Finnisher's resume speaks for itself as his legend grows season by season.
