Star Nursery Play of the Day: Roy's First NHL Goal

When the Vegas Golden Knights acquired Nicolas Roy from the Carolina Hurricanes, they were acquiring someone who had seven NHL games under his belt, but a wealth of experience in the American Hockey League.

Roy spent chunks of time in both leagues in 2019-20 with the Golden Knights and Chicago Wolves and was on the Vegas roster at the league's pause with some momentum behind him.

The Amos, Quebec native made his Vegas debut on Oct. 27 and continued the growing trend of players scoring in their first game as a Golden Knight this season as he potted a memorable first NHL goal against the Anaheim Ducks.

As Roy described the play after the game, Vegas' breakout through the neutral zone was broken up by the Ducks. As the puck slid through center ice, Roy skated into it and used his speed to close in on Erik Gudbranson and Michael Del Zotto who were manning the Anaheim blueline.

His 6'4 frame helped Roy protect the puck as he leaned in front of Gudbranson while pulling the puck from right to left to keep it away from Del Zotto. Gudbranson's reach knocked the puck away from Roy briefly, but a fortunate bounce left it on Roy's stick right in front of the net.

Anaheim goalie John Gibson stood still as he tried to read the broken play and set himself for a shot, but Roy's quick release gave him no such chance. The shot snuck through Gibson's legs and T-Mobile Arena exploded for the forward's first goal in the NHL.

"It feels amazing, I don't know what to say," Roy said postgame. "I don't really celly usually, but I was so pumped that I had to. I've dreamed of that all my life, so it was fun."