I know it’s easy to get distracted by his hair, which is so curly that the Caps made a Chia Pet out of it and handed them out to fans, but it’s also easy to notice that Sonny Milano has some of the slickest hands in hockey.
Forget his hat trick goal – which the crowd thought John Carlson scored. Even Carlson thought Carlson scored it, “otherwise I wouldn’t have celebrated,” he joked.
Milano’s second goal of the game against the Hurricanes on Friday upstaged a power play goal from Alex Ovechkin only minutes earlier. Right off of a faceoff by Dylan Strome, Milano tapped the puck in the air like he was juggling a hot potato, then tapped it again and over the shoulder of Carlino goalie Pyotr Kochetkov to give the Caps a 3-2 lead.
When asked if Milano meant to do this, he said yes. There was no luck here. He’s been doing trick shots like this since he was a kid.
🤯 SONNY MILANO 🤯
📺: @Sportsnet or stream on Sportsnet+ ➡️ https://t.co/sEijvXhbA1 pic.twitter.com/tIyrC0hrc0
— NHL (@NHL) March 23, 2024
As for the hat trick, once the third goal was announced as Sonny’s, fans threw the hats after the next stoppage.
The hats belatedly come down pic.twitter.com/BqmDErnAM1
— Capitals Outsider (@CapsOutsider) March 23, 2024
Back to Sonny’s hands. Even on plays where the puck doesn’t go in, Milano makes moves that most players can’t regularly do.
If this went, Sonny Milano would have had the goal of the decade. pic.twitter.com/BxsWxhCFe6
— BucciOT.Com (@Buccigross) October 28, 2023
Milano only has 13 goals on the season, which is one fewer than a career high. But he missed a couple of months due to an injury. If he can stay healthy, there’s no reason why he can’t put up 25 goals next year, with more highlights like these.
Who knows? Maybe he’ll top what he did in Anaheim.
