1952 days, that's how long it had been since Dylan Ferguson stood between the pipes in an NHL rink. The last time was in the 2017-18 season with the Vegas Golden Knights when Ferguson was just 19 years old, and he played nine minutes in relief.
Cut to last night when Dylan Ferguson learned he was making his first NHL start against a formidable opponent in the Pittsburgh Penguins, just one day after being recalled from the Belleville Senators. Coming into the game Ferguson's mentality was to focus on being himself as he told the media postgame.
"My big focus tonight was to just go out there and be me, don't try to be anyone I'm not and stay in the moment."
60 minutes of play later Ferguson put on a show, making 48 saves on 49 shots to tie the second highest mark for most saves in a first NHL start in NHL history. In his effort, Ferguson passed the franchise record of 46 saves set by Kevin Mandolese just five short weeks ago.
For a guy who started the season with the Toronto Marlies, spent time in the ECHL and only played six games for Belleville before Monday night, this has to have been a bit of a dream come true.
"When he started his summer training, I would think that he didn't think he'd be gibing up one on that many shots in Pittsburgh at the end of the year," said head coach D.J. Smith. "That just shows that if you stay with it, you never know when your chance comes."
With just over five minutes to play it seemed entirely likely that Ferguson was going to notch his first career shutout in his first career start along the way to his first NHL win. Though that wasn't the result, this seems to just be the beginning of the story for Dylan Ferguson and we will wait in anticipation until the next time he gets the chance to stand tall between the pipes.
