Lawson Crouse wins OHL game with diving, one-handed assist

In the space of about a second, the Kingston Frontenacs' Lawson Crouse provided a microcosm of why he was the youngest player on Team Canada last season and became a high NHL first-round pick of the Florida Panthers. One simply doesn't see this kind of hockey smarts manifested into an eye-popping play, or put another way, when was the last time you saw a forward diving headlong to intercept a breakout pass?

Crouse did just that in the first minute of bonus hockey during the Frontenacs' win against the Oshawa Generals on Sunday. The 6-foot-4 winger laid out to knock down a puck after Gens defenceman Jalen Smereck made a cross-ice pass, then made a one-handed flick pass that Los Angeles Kings prospect Spencer Watson turned into the winning goal in a 1-0 victory.

Frontenacs captain Roland McKeown, a Carolina Hurricanes signing, was the lone defenceman out for the start of the 3-on-3. One can only wonder whether he had a mental flash, "If Lawson misses that, it's 3-on-1, and I'm the one," or knew from having played two-plus seasons with Crouse, that the calculated risk would work out for the big man.

The win vaulted Kingston into first place in the OHL's Eastern Conference with a .700 point percentage after 10 games. It was just Crouse's second game since serving a suspension incurred at the end of last season. Watson, meantime, already has six goals in the first 10 games despite playing on a defensive-minded team

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @naitSAYger.