Cooke Nails it

Friday, 25 January 2013 14:37

Written by Dave Molinari

Edmonton rookie Nail Yakupov's exuberant celebration after tying a game against Los Angeles with 4.7 seconds left in regulation Thursday night has gotten a lot of attention in hockey circles.

And much, or even most, of it hasn't been positive.

Yakupov scored from the right side of the net, then turned and sprinted to the Kings' blue line, at which point he dropped to his knees and skidded all the way to the hash marks in the Oilers' end.

It resembled Calgary forward Theo Fleury's reaction to scoring an overtime winner during the 1991 Stanley Cup playoffs.

"I don't want to take away anything from the kid," Penguins left winger Matt Cooke said. "He's excited, he's young, he's got great energy for the game.

"I think there's a time and a place ... in the past, that's been frowned upon. Guys did stuff like that when they reached huge milestones.

"There have been great celebrations. Just not in Game 4 of the regular season (for a goal) that tied a game."