Avery Hayes made his NHL debut for the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night and it’s safe to say it was a memorable start for the 23-year-old rookie.
Hayes, who was called up from the AHL earlier in the day ahead of the team’s game against the Buffalo Sabres, scored two goals in the first period of his first NHL game.
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“Honestly, I can’t say much right now,” Hayes said after the first period ended during an interview with SportsnNet Pittsburgh’s Hailey Hunter. “I kind of blacked out, but it was a big goal for the team which is most important and yeah, I just gotta keep this thing going.”
Hayes said that the process of being called up and making his debut in Buffalo was a quick turnaround, but said that was probably a good thing because it didn’t give him time to get stressed about the situation.
“We drove in and I was ready to go and it was fun,” Hayes said.
With two or more goals in his NHL debut, Hayes joins Jake Guentzel and Rob Brown as the only other Pittsburgh Penguins players to match that achievement.
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Prior to being called up, Hayes had scored 13 goals with 10 assists in 31 games for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the AHL this season.
Time will tell if Hayes will end up sticking around on the Penguins’ roster when the team returns from the NHL’s Olympic break.
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