In his first NHL regular season game, Jack Eichel began living up to the hype as he tallied his first career NHL goal for the Buffalo Sabres.
Eichel, who was picked 2nd overall behind Connor McDavid in the 2015 NHL Draft, only needed about 50 minutes into his first NHL season before getting on the board. He took a nice pass from Marcus Foligno, picked his corner, and sniped away on Ottawa Senators goalie Craig Anderson.
“You didn’t see him skate in the first two periods, you didn’t see him use his speed. But again, that was a lot like our entire team, not in particular to Jack,” Sabres head coach Dan Bylsma said after the game. “But the third period, a lot different. Speed and big bodies, he won pucks with his speed and size and reach. That line in particular really led the charge.”
Eichel’s goal brought the Sabres within one, trailing 2-1 with half a period left to play. Unfortunately, despite the new momentum created by his goal, Eichel’s Sabres could not complete the comeback and would fall 3-1 to the Senators.
Despite the loss, Eichel will cherish his first NHL goal.
“It’s a pretty special moment for me,” Eichel said. “I’ll remember that for the rest of my life. Today is my dad’s birthday, I have a lot of family in town, so it’s a special moment to be able to score the first one today. A win definitely would have capped it off perfectly but you can’t have it all, and it’s a long season.”
If you haven’t seen Eichel’s first career NHL goal, check out the video below. Let us know in the comments how you think Jack Eichel will perform this season. Do you think he’ll win rookie of the year honors? Or will it be Connor McDavid, or someone else?
