Avery Hayes, who played four seasons with the Hamilton Bulldogs and one with the Peterborough Petes, scored two big goals in his NHL debut with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night. And the 23-year-old forward wasn’t even supposed to be on the ice. Hayes was recalled from the American Hockey League the morning of the match. He then made the four-and-a-half-hour drive to the KeyBank Center where the Penguins were taking on the Buffalo Sabres. The team said Hayes is the seventh player in the NHL to get multiple goals in the first period, as well as the 12th undrafted player to score multiple times during his debut. The cherry on top? Hayes’ family was in the arena to watch him make history. “Right now, I can’t really put it into words,” he said after the team went on to win 5-2 over the Sabres. “I’m just excited to see my family after they were able to make the trip. So, I have no words right now, but it was a ton of fun.” On Friday morning, the Penguins announced he had been reassigned to the AHL. Hayes played for the Hamilton Bulldogs from 2018 to 2023 before the team moved to Brantford.
