Volpatti Nets First NHL Goal (with Video)
ST. LOUIS—Former Brown standout Aaron Volpatti scored his first career goal as the surging Vancouver Canucks beat the St. Louis Blues 3-1 on Monday night.
Click here to view video of Volpatti's first NHL goal
Click here to view postgame comments by Aaron Volpatti
The 25-year-old native of Revelstoke, BC, who made his NHL debut Saturday night and is the first Canucks player to wear #54, did what every coach he’s ever had has always preached: go to the net hard with your stick on the ice. He was rewarded for it.
Seven minutes into the second period, Tanner Glass, a former Dartmouth standout, bolted into the Blues end and leveled Alex Pietrangelo along the boards to free up the puck for Alex Bolduc, who spotted Volpatti alone in front of the net for his first career goal. Volpatti beat Blues goaltender Jaroslav Halak seven minutes, 12 seconds into the second period for the first goal of the game.
While it looked like simple tic-tac-toe, it was anything but for Volpatti in the trenches.
“Glass did a heckuva job as the first guy in on the forecheck there, I took away their D to D and I just popped out front when I saw Duker got in the corner,” explained an excited Volpatti. “He found me and I just tried to slide it though and put it on the ice five-hole.
“I don’t think I was thinking about it as much as that though, I just shot and it went five-hole.”
As quickly as the goal was scored, it was wrapped in tape and labeled, ready for the mantel.
