Photo: Andreas Froberg

Washington Capitals’ 2014 Draft first-round pick Jakub Vrana kicked off his season this week with two Champions Hockey League games. After getting kept off the scoresheet as his Linkoping defeated Pardubice 2-1, Vrana, who played on a line with ex-Hershey Bears Jeff Taffe and Jacob Micflikier, scored two points in a blowout victory over Italian team Bolzano, 5-0.

That also included one siiiiiiiick goal.

Vrana is in blue wearing #13. (GIF by @Freedoooom)

Five minutes into the game, with the Swedish team on the power play, Vrana got the puck in the high slot, paralyzed veteran defenseman Alexander Egger with some sweet stick-handling moves and went top shelf off his backhand, leaving zero chance for goalie Jaroslav Hubl.

Vrana added a secondary assist on Nichlas Hardt’s goal that put Linkoping two goals up against the reigning champions of Austrian EBEL league. His assist can be seen at the 54 second mark of these linked highlights.

The Champions League is a new competition designed to be a hockey analogue to the soccer tournament of the same name. In its inaugural season, the tournament features 44 teams from 12 leagues representing all of Europe’s top leagues except for the KHL.

Thanks to Joshua L for emailing us the video.