Abbotsford native Derek Grant lived every hockey player’s dream on Saturday night, as he made his NHL debut with the Ottawa Senators.
The 22-year-old centre was thrust into the cauldron known as the Battle of Ontario, as the Senators took on the Toronto Maple Leafs at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre. The game was broadcast nationally on Hockey Night in Canada.
Grant logged 7:30 of ice time and registered one shot on goal and two hits, but Ottawa dropped a 3-0 decision.
At the time of his recall, Grant was the AHL’s runaway leader in shorthanded goals – five of his 15 tallies on the season with the Binghamton Senators had come with a teammate in the penalty box, and no one else in the league had more than three shorties.
Ottawa is riddled with injuries at the moment, and Grant was filling in for Milan Michalek, who was out with a knee injury.
