Hayes family has priceless reaction to forward's 2-goal NHL debut 

Avery Hayes checked off a whole list of firsts on Thursday.

The Pittsburgh Penguins rookie scored his first NHL goal on his first NHL shot during his debut against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Arena.

Almost midway through the first period, Hayes beat out Sabres defenseman Jacob Bryson to a loose puck crossing the blue line in the Sabres zone. The rookie then broke away to the net and scored on a snap shot to tie the game 1-1.

Hayes’ parents and brother wiped away tears in the stands as they celebrated the goal.

The Penguins rookie wasn’t done shocking his family for the night. He scored his second goal of the night about nine minutes later in the first period to give the Penguins the 2-1 lead.

His brother put his hands over his head in disbelief in reaction to the goal.

During the first intermission, Hayes was still processing his first NHL goal.

“Honestly, I can’t say much right now I kind of blacked out, but it was a big goal for the team which was most important,” Hayes said in a first intermission interview with SportsNet Pittsburgh. “I just got to keep this thing going.”

Before the game, the young forward took his rookie lap around the rink.

The Penguins recalled Hayes earlier in the day from their AHL affiliate the Wilkes Bare/Scranton Penguins due to the unavailability of forwards Blake Lizotte (personal), Noel Acciari (illness) and Rickard Rakell (injury).

Hayes said only having eight hours between being called up and making his NHL debut was beneficial.

“It was pretty quick turnaround, but honestly it was probably a good thing because I didn’t have much time to think or stress about it, so I just got to go out there and play,” the rookie said in the SportsNet Pittsburgh interview. “We drove in and I was ready to go. So, it was fun.”

This season Hayes has 23 points (13 goals, 10 assists) in 31 games with Wilkes Bare/Scranton.