How Did A KHL Player Pull Off This Unreal Behind-The-Back Goal?

Maple Leafs forward Semyon Der-Arguchintsev

Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Shootouts give hockey players a virtually unparalleled opportunity to get creative when it comes to figuring out a way to score. Those one-on-one showdowns have been a showcase for plenty of dirty dekes and dangles, but one KHL player may have set a new bar with the move he used to seal a win over a rival club.

NHL games frequently ended in a tie prior to the start of the 2005-06 campaign. However, the league eliminated that possibility that season by introducing the shootout that is used to decide the game if teams aren’t able to settle things by the time overtime comes to an end.

Some fans derided that development as overly gimmicky, and while that may be the case, it was still a pretty welcome change that also allowed players to show off moves that had been largely reserved for the penalty shots that tended to be few and far between (as well as breakaways where they were feeling particularly daring).

Since then, we’ve been treated to some absolutely filthy moves, like the “no look” that was perfectly executed by Nikita Kucherov.

Pavel Datsyuk was also a shootout wizard who was responsible for a slew of jaw-dropping moves with the game on the line.

You also can’t talk about shootout goals without mentioning the between-the-legs maneuver Marek Malik, a defenseman who was not known for his shooting prowess, pulled out in the first season the format was introduced.

However, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a shootout goal that rivals the one a former member of the Maple Leafs pulled off in a KHL game.

Semyon Der-Arguchintsev ended a KHL game with a behind-the-back shootout goal that will break your brain

Semyon Der-Arguchintsev was drafted by the Maple Leafs with the 76th overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, and he played a single game for Toronto after being called up from their AHL affiliate on December 6, 2022.

The Russian center has been playing in the KHL since 2023, and after two seasons with Traktor Chelyabinsk, he headed back to the city where he was born to join Dynamo Moscow.

On Monday, his squad faced off against Spartak Moscow in a game where both sides were knotted at three goals apiece at the end of regulation. The score remained unchanged upon the conclusion of overtime, so they headed to a shootout to decide things.

The KHL has featured that tiebreaker since its inception in 2008. It shares the initial three-round format with the NHL, but it differs in its approach if things are still tied up after that initial series; the latter bars teams from sending out the same player until all of its options are exhausted, but the former permits anyone to take the ice to try to score once the first six guys have taken their turn.

That meant Arguchintsev got three opportunities to score on Artyom Zagidulin, who prevented him from potting a goal in the first round and the sixth. However, the third time turned out to be the charm, as Arguchintsev surged toward the net with the puck and tucked his stick behind his back before effortlessly flicking the biscuit top shelf for the win.