Tkachuk goes between-the-legs for one of his nicest goals yet (VIDEO)

Sergei Belski/USA TODAY Sports

Matthew Tkachuk got back to his highlight-reel ways at the expense of the Vegas Golden Knights.

Tkachuk added insult to injury in Calgary’s 6-0 thumping of visiting Vegas with a between-the-legs marker that is quickly becoming a staple in the repertoire of the 24-year-old winger.

This is just absolutely ridiculous. pic.twitter.com/58OX1bOdLa

— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) February 10, 2022

The goal, with Calgary already up 5-0 late in the third period, had Tkachuk trending on Twitter last night.

“It’s just the quickest way I could’ve got the shot off. That’s it, honestly,” Tkachuk downplayed postgame.

His teammates didn’t quite take the same humble approach in hyping up the goal.

“Obviously I like all goals we score, but it’s a great move, especially the puck is kind of behind the net and the goalie was looking on the other side,” said goalie Jacob Markstrom, who had a view from 180 feet away.

“Nowadays, most goalies have skates on both posts. It’s a quick play to get it over the pad and in the back of the net. Great move. I’m not surprised. He does all that stuff in practices as well as games. It was good to see it go in.”

Matthew Tkachuk (@TKACHUKycheese_) cannot be stopped. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/sVEz9pfVn6

— NHL (@NHL) February 10, 2022

The goal, surprisingly, even had head coach Darryl Sutter grinning.

The old-school, no-nonsense skipper can appreciate the effort. And execution.

“Did you see Johnny in Arizona? Did you guys watch that game? He just about had a goal and an assist doing the same thing,” Sutter smiled. “Those are high-end plays. Not everybody can try it. The guys that try it do it once and get it done.”

Tkachuk is second on the Flames in both goals (21) and points (48) this season.

Many of his tallies and helpers have been of the highlight-reel variety.

None better, perhaps, than his lift over Vegas goalie Robin Lehner.

But trending-worthy plays are quickly becoming a staple in Tkachuk’s game, perhaps taking some of the shine away from jaw-dropping efforts seen with regularity this campaign.

“It’s more of a standard thing now, I think, him going between his legs,” linemate Elias Lindholm said. “It’s obviously fun. It makes the sport a little more interesting. It’s definitely fun to watch, but I’m not able to do that kind of stuff.”

Meaning Tkachuk should probably be upping the ante a little bit.

But don’t expect any lob passes from behind the net or Michigan tucks into the top corner.

Between-the-legs might be as risky as Tkachuk wants to take things.

“It’s very hard to do some of that stuff,” he said Wednesday morning, almost a dozen hours prior to his latest exploit. “I’m sure if you go to a rink here in Calgary, a bunch of 10-year-olds are doing that stuff. Most of us that have played for five years or 10 years or longer, nobody was really doing that stuff.

“Through the legs was as creative as we were getting.

“Now all this stuff behind the net, picking it up…I bet if you go to youth hockey games you’re seeing a lot of it.”

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