Evgeny Kuznetsov

Evgeny Kuznetsov explained his weird goal celebration at the World Cup

Published Nov. 15, 2016 2:45 p.m. ET

Pete Blackburn

A desperate Team Russia got a crucial World Cup of Hockey win over North America on Tuesday night, holding off the young guns with a 4-3 victory in their preliminary round matchup.

Russian star Evgeny Kuznetsov scored one of the most impressive goals of the tournament so far when he went end-to-end and torched a speedy North American team before tucking the puck past goaltender Matt Murray. It was his first goal at the World Cup, and it was a big one.

So, how did he celebrate? Well, like this.

The flappy-bird celebration was an odd one, so, naturally, Kuznetsov was asked about it following the game. He explained that he's a big fan of EA Sports' FIFA video game series, so he borrowed one of the celebrations from the game.

Kuznetsov said he wasn't planning on breaking out the move but just went with it following the emotional goal. Not bad for a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing. Team Russia is probably just hoping to see more of it.

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Evgeny Kuznetsov

Washington Capitals

National Hockey League