1 minute left and you pulled your goalie

[MyDogSparty]

For some unexplained reason you find your team down by one goal with one minute to play in regulation. You've got the following players on the ice...

Gretzky
Mario
Gordie
Orr
Lidstrom

...You want to send this game to OT so you've pulled your goalie and you're looking down your bench to put a player on as an extra attacker. You've got your choice of ANY player in history as long as they played at least one NHL season from 1970 to the current year. Who do you choose and why?

Click to read more...

 

[sr edler]

A crease/slot presence guy? I guess that could be Howe though.

 

[Johnny Engine]

Brett Hull might be a good choice, since he’d just go get lost in the slot somewhere while the above murderers row draws all the attention. If you’re too concerned with his chemistry with Wayne, park Esposito in front.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

Esposito, and have him go stand at the top of the crease.

 

[brachyrynchos]

Lindros would be great on the forecheck and in the corners, leading to turnovers. He would be a tough guy to clear the crease, helping to screen the goalie and possibly getting a deflection or rebound.
Or maybe a pure sniper.

 

[quoipourquoi]

Based on the LGTG (<3 minutes) chart posted a while back by morehockeystats, Selanne’s 15 are the most going back to 1988. He had 4 in 2010-11 alone. Shanahan was next at 12.

 

[bobholly39]

Pavel Bure or Connor McDavid.

Purely for speed - in case it's needed. They're also talented enough to score/complete almost any play that pops up.

 

[FrozenJagrt]

I'm thinking either Crosby or The Golden Brett. The ability to get lost in traffic would be important here.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Someone good at picking up garbage in front of the net but skilled enough to do other things as well - so Crosby or Esposito.

 

[BenchBrawl]

Howe
Lemieux
Gretzky
Lindros
Orr
MacInnis

Edit: Agree that Esposito would be very useful there.Same with Brett.I could use Potvin or Harvey instead of MacInnis, but hey so many to choose from.

Edit2: Misread OP.For one player to go with the group in OP, I'd take peak Lindros for more muscle around the board.Frosberg would be another choice.Esposito and Crosby too of course.

Lemieux is actually an underrated garbage collector IMO.Him, Howe and Lindros can do that.

 

[blogofmike]

Assuming Gretzky behind the net, Mario on the LW circle (kind of dqs Ovechkin), Gordie as a goal mouth presence, and Orr and Lidstrom on the points (presumably with Orr as the one pinching more often)...

That leaves a gap on the RW board that Jagr could fill in nicely. Puck possession is important in these situations too.

I imagine the fun play is a Lidstrom slapshot wide, for Gretzky to recover and shovel to a blitzing Orr.

 

[BenchBrawl]

Assuming Gretzky behind the net, Mario on the LW circle (kind of dqs Ovechkin), Gordie as a goal mouth presence, and Orr and Lidstrom on the points (presumably with Orr as the one pinching more often)...

That leaves a gap on the RW board that Jagr could fill in nicely. Puck possession is important in these situations too.

I imagine the fun play is a Lidstrom slapshot wide, for Gretzky to recover and shovel to a blitzing Orr.

I'd put Maurice Richard there for the clutch goal!

 

[blogofmike]

Rocket's got the shot/possession/garbage collection skill down.

Misses something in playmaking and in post-1970 games.

 

[BenchBrawl]

Rocket's got the shot/possession/garbage collection skill down.

Misses something in playmaking and in post-1970 games.

Yeah well you have Gretzky, Lemieux, Orr and Howe out there...

 

[McGarnagle]

Bossy?

 

[JaymzB]

Yanic Perrault, in case there is a faceoff to be won. The other 5 should be able to take care of the whole scoring a goal thing.

 

[SovietWings]

Is it really necessary to pull a goalie with this lineup? Anyway my first ideas were Jagr, Forsberg or Coffey (not quite extra attacker ).

But the question is who is the team defending the lead and able to do so? You need some evil to manage that:
Messier-Clarke-Bure (for breakaways)
Pronger-Stevens
Roy

 

[Johnny Engine]

Is it really necessary to pull a goalie with this lineup? Anyway my first ideas were Jagr, Forsberg or Coffey (not quite extra attacker ).

But the question is who is the team defending the lead and able to do so? You need some evil to manage that:
Messier-Clarke-Bure (for breakaways)
Pronger-Stevens
Roy

Maybe Keon as the requisite speedy guy?

 

[Iapyi]

Darryl Sittler, Lanny McDonald or Mike Bossy.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Yanic Perrault, in case there is a faceoff to be won. The other 5 should be able to take care of the whole scoring a goal thing.

Good point on faceoffs - Neither Gretzky nor Lemieux was great at them. Another point in favor of Phil Esposito. Messier and Sakic could work too.

So I'll say Espo for his garbage goal scoring and faceoff ability.

 

[Crosbyfan]

Paul Henderson circa late September 1972

 

[Johnny Engine]

Paul Henderson circa late September 1972

No, you want Peter Mahovlich out there with one minute left...

 

[Jim MacDonald]

*waits to see if he gets a lot of likes or gets a lot of vegetables thrown at him* Lyndon Byers

 

[DJ Man]

Some guy who could stay out of the way.

 

[tarheelhockey]

First I call timeout, walk from the owner’s box down to the bench, and ask my coach how the hell he’s losing the game with THAT lineup.