Thank you, Joe Sakic.

No, not for playing through the pain in your right shoulder.

No, not for stepping up and scoring two goals and adding two assists in your team's 4-1 Peter Forsberg-less win over the Blues in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals on Saturday afternoon.

No, not even for the modest way you spoke about being nominated for three major NHL awards.

No Joe, the reason I'm thanking you is for something far more simple. Joe Sakic, thank you for opting to shoot the puck on your penalty shot in Game 1.

Earlier in the playoffs, we all saw Pittsburgh's Martin Straka take a penalty shot against Buffalo goalie Dominik Hasek. Now, Straka is a talented player. He was the league's sixth leading scorer. And I know Hasek is tough -- real tough -- to beat on a penalty shot. But, watching Straka on this penalty shot, he looked like one of those little kids you see in-between periods of NHL game.

Straka approached slowly, deked himself out of the play and shoveled a weak backhand into Hasek's pads.

Nice try, Marty.

By contrast, Sakic -- facing another Czech goalie, Roman Turek -- skated toward the net with confidence. He looped a bit to his right, forcing Turek off his angle. Then, suddenly, decisively, he ripped a wrister off the inside of the post on Turek's stick side.

GOAL!

I've always wondered why NHL shooters don't just pick a spot and fire when taking a penalty shot. The goalie, with all that bulky equipment, is tough enough to beat. Why deke around, sometimes on bad ice? These guys all can shoot the puck through a wall. With that kind of skill, why not just shoot?

So, thank you Joe Sakic. Thanks for showing everybody how it's done. Let's hope Marty Straka was watching.

E.J. Hradek covers hockey for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at ej.hradek@espnmag.com.