SvoNotes: Fix-Wolansky scores first NHL goal in a debut to remember

It's hard to sum up everything that happened for Trey Fix-Wolansky on Tuesday night in his NHL debut, so we'll let his father, Dallas Wolansky, give it a try.
"Unbelievable," Dallas said after his son scored in his first game, a 5-4 win for the Blue Jackets at Washington. "You couldn't even write it that way. His first NHL game, playing against his childhood idol in Alex Ovechkin, who is ultimately probably the greatest goal scorer of all time, and my kid snipes one against the team that he plays for. You couldn't ask for anything more."

He's right. It was a script that followed all the notes to a T, as Wolansky said. Playing against a legend whose jersey was on the wall of Fix-Wolansky's bedroom? Check. The parents flying across the country to be there for the big day, then his mom Cheryn Fix crying tears of joy after the goal from her seat at Capital One Arena? Check. The goal coming at a crucial time, as the high-scoring junior and minor league player took advantage of his opportunity and didn't miss it? Check.

It might as well have been written in Hollywood, as on this night, a dream came true in one of the best and most memorable ways possible. Fix-Wolansky spoke before the game of nights at home in Edmonton with his dad, watching the NHL's brightest stars (like Ovechkin) on television and saying he was going to be one of those players one day.
"It's our religion, right?" Wolansky said of hockey in Canada. "It's on every night at home, and it's Hockey Night in Canada and sitting down Saturday night and watching games, so yeah, it's just a thrill, right?"
What did Dallas say when Trey would say as a kid that he'd be an NHLer one day?
"You don't give him false hope," Wolansky said with a laugh. "You go with it and you say, 'You know, anything can happen. Work hard and you never know what can happen, but you have to stay with it and try your hardest and just play and have fun, right? And at the end of the day, if things work out for you, they do.'"
And work out it has. Fix-Wolansky's journey wasn't the easiest, as at just 5-foot-7 he was often overlooked despite his obvious talent and his ability to fill up the net in junior hockey. Fix-Wolansky wasn't chosen his first draft-eligible season and then lasted until the seventh round a year later, all despite being one of the top scorers in the WHL.
His pro career has been filled with obstacles, too -- a groin injury that cost him the first half of his first full pro season, then a torn ACL that ended last year after just nine games played. But through it all the talent showed through, with 25 goals in 74 AHL games before he was called up Monday.
Fix-Wolansky showed his offensive bona fides quickly, as on his first shift, his pass to Brendan Gaunce -- also making his CBJ debut after shining in Cleveland -- led to a breakaway chance for Jack Roslovic. Fix-Wolansky said that play helped settle him into the game, but playing time was hard to come by in the first two periods because of the number of penalties called, though head coach Brad Larsen told Fix-Wolansky he'd get his chance in the third period.
It came on his first shift of the frame, as Max Domi fed Roslovic coming into the zone. From there, Roslovic dropped a pass to Fix-Wolansky, who curled behind the CBJ center and let go a quick, low, hard shot from the left circle. Washington goalie Pheonix Copley got a piece of it, but the puck trickled through and into the net to give Columbus a 4-3 lead.
"The coaches were telling me all night to shoot, so I shot the puck," Fix-Wolansky said. "I heard the crowd kind of roar a little bit so I knew the puck was behind him. I was just going to the net and I saw it go in, and it was probably the most excitement I've ever had in my life."
Will he sleep much tonight after the memorable marker?
"Probably not," he said with a grin.
It might be tough for Dallas and Cheryn as well, but they should be tired. Dallas said the two left Edmonton at 7 a.m. local time and connected through Toronto, arriving in Washington around 4:30 p.m. The whirlwind is far from over, as well, as they'll continue on to Buffalo and Montreal for games before hopefully returning with Fix-Wolansky to their home province of Alberta next Tuesday when the Blue Jackets face Calgary.
Of course, the long travel day was certainly worth it for the once-in-a-lifetime experience.
"You always dream of this day as a parent, and you have a child on the ice that's been dreaming of it since he's been 2 years old," Dallas Wolansky said. "A lot of years of grinding it out and doing what's right and hoping to get to this point in his life, and he has."
For the player himself, having the family in attendance was the cherry on top of something everyone has worked toward for a long, long time.
"I wouldn't want to share it with any other people," Trey said. "They sacrificed so much for me growing up. Early morning practices, my dad was the coach so he was up right with me and at the rink with me. He's the one that helped me fall in love with hockey. I kind of owe it to my parents for being here right now."

A Win for the Books

They don't happen like this very often.
Even aside from Fix-Wolansky's debut to write home about, the Blue Jackets earned the type of win that goes down in the records books in the topsy-turvy victory over the Capitals.

Captain Boone Jenner's 19th goal of the season with 44.2 seconds left was the game-winning tally, coming after Tom Wilson scored an empty-net goal for the Capitals to tie things at 4. Jenner's became just the seventh player in CBJ history to score a go-ahead goal within the final minute of regulation, and it was the fifth-latest such goal ever for the team. He's the first player to notch a game winner in the last minute since Oliver Bjorkstrand did so in a 2-1 win over the New York Rangers in Madison Square Garden on Jan. 19, 2020.
Patrik Laine fed Jenner coming into the zone, and Caps goalie Ilya Samsonov parried away Jenner's shot. But the rebound went right to Gustav Nyquist, who found Jenner cutting to the net, and the captain showed patience as he cut from left to right, drew Samsonov to the ice and then roofed a backhander.
"I think we just stuck with it and Patty made a good play, Gus got to the rebound quick and made a nice play to me, and I just tried to finish it," Jenner said. "Obviously it's nice to get that one."
Thus capped a wild game, as the Blue Jackets trailed 2-0, tied the game at 2, fell into a 3-2 deficit, tied the game again, took the lead on Fix-Wolansky's marker and then watched Wilson score with an empty net.
There were certainly ups and downs along the way -- and some of the sloppiness one might expect with the teams coming off the All-Star break -- but by and large the teams were on even ground.
Natural Stat Trick
had Washington winning the expected goals battle at 5-on-5 by a 2.02-1.93 margin, but that's essentially a draw.
"I think we stuck with it all night and got the result obviously," Jenner said. "In the third period they make it 4-4, it's tough, but even when we were down two, I don't think our game changed at all. I think we were playing the same as we started, and that's a good sign. We just want to play our style whether we're up two or down two. We just stuck with it tonight."
It also helped that special teams played a big part, in particular the Jackets' power play. Laine notched a pair of power-play goals -- the team's first and third tallies, with the former a one-timer from Ovechkin's office and the latter off a nifty faceoff play with just seconds to go in the third period -- and Adam Boqvist also tallied seconds after a CBJ power play ended. The Blue Jackets tallied a pair of power-play goals for the first time since Nov. 27 in St. Louis and just the fourth time all year.
"I liked our first period," Larsen said. "I thought we played really well, we just decided not to hit the net for most of it, and that was a shame because we had some really good looks there. But we stuck with it, and the power play obviously came through huge tonight. We really were 3 for 3 -- we were 2 for 3, but time had expired on the one. The fact they came through for us was massive for our group. The third period was a war. You knew they were gonna push, and Boone comes up with a big goal."

Stats and Facts

• Fix-Wolansky became the sixth player to score in his NHL debut with the Blue Jackets and the first since Pierre-Luc Dubois on Oct. 6, 2017. The others are Nikita Filatov (Oct. 17, 2008), Jakub Voracek (Oct. 10, 2008), Rick Nash (Oct. 10, 2002) and David Vyborny (Oct. 7, 2000).
• Fix-Wolansky skated just 5:23 in the game but did get two shots on goal in that time. Gaunce, making his CBJ debut after leading Cleveland in goals and points this year, skated 6:32 and had a shot on goal. The two played just 38 seconds and 1:26, respectively, in the second period as there were five penalties called in the frame.
• Some more history was made, as Laine became the first player in Blue Jackets annals to register three consecutive multigoal games. He also became fourth player in Blue Jackets history to record four straight multipoint games, joining Artemi Panarin (five straight in 2017-18), Cam Atkinson (four straight in 2018-19) and Rick Nash (four straight in 2009-10 and 2005-06).
• Laine's lainemates -- OK, linemates -- also continued some pretty good streaks of their own. With two assists, Nyquist now has an 8-9-17 line in his last 17 games, not to mention six multipoint games in the last 13. Jenner also has a 7-5-12 line in the last 12 contests.
• Boqvist's goal was his eighth of the year, tops among CBJ defensemen.
• With two assists, Domi now has 197 in his career. He's close to three milestones with a 98-197-295 line in his NHL career.
• Columbus has now trailed in 13 of its 21 wins on the year.
• With Eric Robinson and Alexandre Texier out with injury and Kuraly taking two penalties in the game, Roslovic earned his first extended penalty kill work on the year, skating 2:09 of PK time.
• After totaling just seven goals in the previous five games, the Jackets have 20 in the last four. It was the 11th time in 44 games this year the Blue Jackets have notched at least five goals.
• The Blue Jackets weren't afraid to bring a physical edge to the game, totaling 27 hits to Washington's 17.
• Ovechkin finished with seven shot attempts, two shots on goal and an assist. He hit the goalpost with the Capitals on the power play in the third period.
• Washington center Nic Dowd had a goal and an assist and won 17 of 18 faceoffs. His goal made it 2-0 just 40 seconds into the second - it was the 13th goal the Jackets have given up in the opening minute of a period this year - and went in off the skate of Oliver Bjorkstrand.
• The Caps had exactly 11 shots on goal in each period. Elvis Merzlikins made 29 saves in earning the win.