Ponomarev makes most of late call-up, scores for Hurricanes in NHL debut

WASHINGTON -- Vasily Ponomarev’s dream of playing in the NHL, ignited in a previous trip to Capital One Arena nearly seven years ago, somehow was exceeded by the reality Friday.

After getting a late call-up by the short-handed Carolina Hurricanes and not arriving at the arena until two hours before opening face-off, the 21-year-old center had a memorable NHL debut with a goal and an assist in a 6-2 victory against the Washington Capitals.

“I think for all of us it’s such a special thing to see that happen and be a part of it,” Hurricanes defenseman Brent Burns said. “[Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour] said it after the game, those things you never forget.”

Ponamarev, a native of Moscow, recalled visiting Washington in 2017, when he was in Philadelphia to play in the World Selects Invitational to watch the Capitals play the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Second Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It was the first time Ponamarev attended an NHL game.

Alex Ovechkin scored for the Capitals, and Sidney Crosby scored twice for the Penguins in their 3-2 victory.

“I saw how Ovi and Sid score, and I just dreamed big,” Ponomarev said. “And right now, I understand how you have to dream big to be maybe in seven or maybe 10 years in this situation like they are.”

To realize that dream Friday, lining up against Ovechkin and the Capitals, took some patience -- and some urgency.

A second-round pick (No. 53) in the 2020 NHL Draft, Ponomarev finished his major junior career with Shawinigan of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League in 2020-21 before splitting the 2021-22 season between Moskow Spartak in the Kontinental Hockey League and Chicago in the American Hockey League. He appeared ready to take the next step to the NHL after leading Chicago with 24 goals in 64 AHL games last season and spent the summer working out at Carolina’s practice facility with a group of players, including Burns, to prepare for training camp.

But he injured his knee during the first week of training camp, ending his chance to make the Hurricanes’ opening night roster.

“He was working so hard, it was just fun,” Burns said. “It was a great energy to be around, and to have that injury happen and see you lose all that work that he put in, it’s tough. I can’t imagine for him how tough it was because for us you feel bad for him.”

When Ponomarev was healthy, he went back to the AHL and had 20 points (six goals, 14 assists) in 22 games with Tucson (two games) and Chicago (20 games) while waiting to get the call.

It came at 10 a.m. Friday, when Ponomarev was at the rink in Chicago. With forwards Stefan Noesen (illness) and Martin Necas (upper-body injury) questionable to play against the Capitals, the Hurricanes needed Ponomarev to get to Washington quickly.

After skating for about 20 minutes, Ponomarev headed home to pick up some clothes and went to the airport for a 1:40 p.m. CT flight to Washington. He sat on the plane, checking the time repeatedly and wondering if he’d make it in time to play against the Capitals.

His flight landed around 4:30 p.m. ET, and he arrived at Capital One Arena roughly 30 minutes later for a game that started at 7 p.m.

“Pretty long flight because it's nervous that, you know, you are going to come to the rink right before the (team) meeting,” he said. “It was like five minutes before it. I think sometimes you're making your mindset that you are late in the first game, so you didn't know how you were going to play because usually you come in at the (right) time.”

With Noesen and Necas unable to play, the Hurricanes dressed 11 forwards, so Ponomarev skated at center for most of the night on a line with Brendan Lemieux at left wing and a variety of right wings. Seth Jarvis was in that spot when Ponomarev stepped on the ice for his first shift of the third period with Carolina trailing 2-1.

After Hurricanes defenseman Dmitry Orlov was knocked off the puck behind the Capitals net, Ponomarev found the loose puck and passed it in front to Jarvis, who jammed a backhand in under goalie Darcy Kuemper for the tying goal at 3:23 of the third period.

“You never know what you’re going to get in that situation, but what you do know with him is the effort,” Brind’Amour said. “… There’s a certain thing we expect, and you can count on him for that, so that was great. That was a huge part for the game because we were short-handed, and you get a guy in, and he did his job.”

Carolina broke the game open after that with power-play goals from Andrei Svechnikov and Burns and an empty-net short-handed goal from Orlov that increased its lead to 5-2 with 1:49 remaining.

With Kuemper back in the net, Ponomarev got one more shift and made the most of it, taking a pass from Jesperi Kotkaniemi and firing a one-timer from the right circle in past Kuemper’s glove for his first NHL goal with 59 seconds remaining to cap off the Hurricanes’ fifth straight victory.

“I just was happy,” Ponomarev said of seeing the puck go in.

In a game where Burns (two goals, one assist), Svechnikov (one goal, two assists) and Sebastian Aho (three assists) each had three points and Orlov, a Stanley Cup winner with Washington in 2018, had two points (one goal, one assist) in his first game as a visitor at Capital One Arena, Ponomarev had the feel-good story of the night.

“Definitely,” Svechnikov said. “It's a special night for him. Come, fly today to Washington, and get the win and get two (points), it's special. It's special, for sure.”