[HIGHLIGHT] @DerekAllenRyan scores a PPG in his first @NHL game! #Redvolution #CARvsNJD https://t.co/POGyaUpA8X
— Carolina Hurricanes (@NHLCanes) March 2, 2016
Derek Ryan, at 29 years old, became the oldest player to make his NHL debut in Carolina Hurricanes history Tuesday against the , and he didn't take long to make an impact at the game's highest level.
Ryan found the back of the net during a second-period power play, wristing a shot past New Jersey Devils netminder Cory Schneider, tying the game at one.
What a nice story @DerekAllenRyan is. Four years CIS. Three in Austria. One in Sweden. Gets first NHL goal in first NHL game at age 29!
— James Mirtle (@mirtle) March 2, 2016
It's surely a special moment for the forward, as his father and sister flew in from Spokane, Wash. to watch him play in Newark. Ryan played for the WHL's Spokane Chiefs for three seasons where he was coached by none other than current Hurricanes coach Bill Peters.
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