The plays of 2018: In a year of amazing moments, some plays stood out just a bit more than others.
This was a year of moments.
Justify won the Triple Crown. The U. S. beat Canada in a shootout for gold in women’s hockey at the Pyeongchang Olympics, and John Shuster pulled off a curling shot of all-time to win another gold for the red, white and blue. Stefon Diggs engineered a miracle in Minneapolis to win a playoff game for the Vikings. Roger Federer won a point at the U. S. Open without getting the ball over the net. Tiger Woods walked down the 18th fairway as a winner again. Loyola Chicago became the darlings of college basketball during the NCAA Tournament, fueled by a penchant for dramatics at the buzzer.
All of them spectacular.
Still, none of them made the list of the Plays of the Year.
These come from some of the biggest events of the year — the Stanley Cup Final, the World Cup, the Super Bowl, the AL Championship Series and the women’s Final Four. One was from a volleyball player using her feet, another was a quarterback who made a winning throw but didn’t touch a football. And they all stood out a bit more than most.
Here are the best plays in sports for 2018:
10. Holtby saves the Caps
Washington goalie Braden Holtby might have turned the Stanley Cup Final around with one save. Alex Tuch had a chance to tie Game 2 of the series with about two minutes left in regulation. Alone in the slot, he took a pass and had tons of open net to shoot at from right on the doorstep — only to be denied by Holtby, who stabbed his stick at the air and just managed to find the puck. «Thank God he’s our goalie,» Caps star Alex Ovechkin said. The Capitals went on to win the series.
9. Harden breaks ankles
Poor Wesley Johnson. Poor, poor Wesley Johnson. All he was trying to do was guard Houston star James Harden, and he ended up on the ground as an unwitting participant in a highlight for the ages. Harden crossed Johnson over and caused him to stumble to the floor — it’s called «breaking ankles» in basketball vernacular — and it only got worse from there for the Los Angeles Clippers guard.
