Arshdeep Bains got a solid vote of confidence before suiting up for his hometown Vancouver Canucks on Saturday.
The left-winger spoke with Daniel and Henrik Sedin, and the Canucks legends told him they had a feeling Bains was poised to score his first NHL goal.
They were right.
“I’d been hearing that from a couple guys,” Bains said after he buried the winning goal in Vancouver’s 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday. “They’re all pretty happy for me. And it almost felt like it was meant to be.”
Bains — who hails from the Vancouver suburb of Surrey — said his mom and dad were in the stands to see his milestone night.
The 23-year-old forward picked up a loose puck in Penguins’ territory midway through the second period and dished off to linemate Daniel Sprong, who dashed down the ice and blasted a shot into Alex Nedeljkovic’s pads. The Pittsburgh goalie couldn’t grab the rebound, which popped out to Bains and he tapped it into the yawning net.
Sprong’s play felt like “a gift,” Bains said.
“I can’t really even put it in the words,” he said. “It just happened so fast and all the guys were so happy. It’s just a special moment.”
Pittsburgh called a 30-second time out after Bains scored, giving him a few moments to celebrate the moment with his teammates. The Canucks doled out hugs and high fives as the Penguins huddled at their bench. Sprong raced down the ice to collect the puck — a memento that Bains said he’ll give to his dad.
One teammate had some constructive criticism for the goal scorer.
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“I wish he had a bigger smile on his goal. But you see the guys’ reaction on the bench — I think we were happier than he was,” winger Kiefer Sherwood said with a grin.
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“But he’s been a guy that’s just put his nose down and continue to go to work. … So it really, really feels good for everyone to kind of support him and watch him go about his thing.”
After going undrafted, Bains signed with the Canucks as a free agent in March 2022 following a standout campaign where he put up 43 goals and 69 assists in 68 games for the Red Deer Rebels of the Western Hockey League.
He spent the 2022-23 campaign with the American Hockey League’s Abbotsford Canucks, then was called up to the NHL squad for eight games last season.
It was in September’s training camp, though, where Bains really impressed. The six-foot, 184-pound forward was initially sent to Abbotsford following the club’s final round of cuts, but Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet was quick to say Bains would be back in Vancouver soon.
“He’s got some speed, but he’s starting to kind of find an identity where he can check also, too,” Tocchet said of how Bains has caught his attention. “He’s finding the positions where to be defensively. He’s working on his game.”
Others in the Canucks’ locker room have noticed Bains’ growth, too.
Vancouver’s star forward Elias Pettersson said he’s always known his young teammate had what it takes to be a good player.
“He makes plays. He has to touch to make a sauce pass and make the right decisions,” Pettersson said. “But then, he has a habit of working hard, playing the right way. And I think he’s just going to continue getting better for us.”
More milestones
Before Saturday’s game, the Canucks recognized defenceman Tyler Myers who played his 1,000th regular-season NHL game while Vancouver was away on a road trip last week.
Myers’ wife, Michela, and his three children joined him for an on-ice ceremony that included a video montage of his career highlights and a number of gifts, including silver mini sticks for his kids.
The 34-year-old blue liner has 93 goals, 280 assists over 1,002 games — including a helper on Elias Petterson’s goal Saturday.
Tough swing
The loss to Vancouver capped a difficult four-game western Canadian road trip for the Penguins.
Pittsburgh’s lone point from the swing came in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Calgary Flames on Tuesday.
Head coach Mike Sullivan said Saturday that the team has what it takes to get out of the rut.
“I think a lot of it starts with a mindset,” he said. “It’s a certain attitude, it’s a certain resilience that we have to have. We need some pushback and we’ve got to do a better job.”
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