The Vancouver Canucks rookie forward converted a jaw-dropping move that resembled the famous Peter Forsberg deke from the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics in their shootout loss to the New Jersey Devils on Friday.
"It's something I have, and something I felt like trying today," Pettersson said. "That move is famous. It's a good move if the goalie bites on it."
Forsberg's move lifted Sweden past Canada in the gold-medal game and has since been immortalized on a stamp in his home country. Pettersson mimicked his countryman's brilliance by tucking the puck past Devils goalie Mackenzie Blackwood with one hand after making Blackwood think he'd run out of room.
"I thought I had him all the way in the shootout," Blackwood said. "He went to my blocker side, and I thought he had no more room left and next thing I know the one hand comes out and the puck comes over and I'm stretching for my life there. He's a heck of a player, and that was a great goal."
Pettersson's move wowed the hockey world, including his teammates.
"You should have seen me on the bench," Canucks forward Troy Stecher told The Athletic. "[The move] was sickening."
