Derek MacKenzie scores diving Goal of the Year candidate (Video)

When you think Goal of the Year, does Derek MacKenzie of the Florida Panthers come to mind? If it didn’t before Thursday, it should now. Check out this diving chip shot by the 33-year-old Florida forward against Winnipeg.

Not bad for a guy who had 35 scores in 373 games prior. What is it about players scoring ridiculous goals from their bellies this week? Clearly it’s becoming a thing, and we need to see more of it.

The Miami Herald's George Richards was there and documented the play:

With MacKenzie yelling for the puck 20 yards away, Bolland sent a blind pass somewhere near where MacKenzie was skating. The Florida center -- who slid over to left wing to make room for Bolland on Thursday -- dove for the pass and got a piece of his stick on it. MacKenzie's put the puck in the corner of the net for a 1-0 lead with 3:32 left in the first."Bolland made an unbelievable pass,'' said MacKenzie, who has five goals this year. "I'll count the rest of it to luck. Obviously I ws tryingg to time it, get it to the net. We talked about getting some breaks and we'll chalk that up as a break. I was hoping for a breakaway out of it but the way it worked out, it was a desperation play.''

Read more here: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/flapanthers/2015/03/jet-fueled-panthers-get-highlight-goal-from-derek-mackenzie-and-strong-play-from-all-four-lines-in-4-2-win-over-winnipeg.html?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed#storylink=cpy

If Ondrej Pavelec couldn’t stop one of the softest goals of the year this week, it appears teammate Michael Hutchinson was confounded by one of the toughest shots.

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper

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