Maroon scores goal for 'Battle Buddy,' young fan fighting Cystic Fibrosis

It may have been Pat Maroon's birthday, but he was the one giving out the gifts on Saturday.
The Tampa Bay Lightning forward scored a goal against the Nashville Predators and knew exactly who the puck was going to.

Back in January, a young fan named Bradley Wombles, currently battling Cystic Fibrosis,

to try and get the attention of his favorite player.
Maroon noticed. He sought out Bradley in the stands, and gave him an autographed stick that said "Keep fighting!"
But it didn't stop there. Maroon

to Bradley on his 5th birthday and, as a surprise, invited him to Amalie Arena for Saturday's game. The game also happened to fall on Maroon's birthday.
When Bradley, Maroon's "Battle Buddy," showed up to say hello before the game, Maroon promised if he scored a goal, he'd give Bradley the puck.

And, wouldn't you know it? That's exactly what happened.
"It was surreal," Bryant Wombles, Bradley's father, told NHL.com. "We couldn't believe it. We were so happy for him. He was on Cloud Nine."
"Obviously there's a really cool story going on with Bradley and me," Maroon said after the game. "I'm just really excited he got the opportunity to enjoy this with his family."
Bradley, who recently graduated from Pre-K, also got to ride the Zamboni and meet Thunderbug, the team mascot, all while wearing an ear-to-ear smile.

And, of course, after the game, the puck was Bradley's.

"You always wonder what people are going through," Maroon said. "I have two young children myself. When someone is battling something you want to find a way to cheer them up as much as possible. You want to find a way to cheer their moms and dads up...try to find a reason to get his mind on something else."
Bryant shared a close-up of Maroon's message on Twitter.

"When it happened, we were just in tears," said Bryant. "When we met Pat before the game he said 'I don't score a lot, but I'm gona try really hard to score one for you.' It was like something out of a storybook."
"This is just a very special night," Maroon said.
-NHL.com Independent Correspondent Corey Long contributed to this report.