Global Series: Rodrigues scores fastest goal outside North America in NHL history

TAMPERE – It look less than a minute to make history at the 2024 Global Series.

Scoring the fastest goal outside of North America in NHL history, Evan Rodrigues gave the Florida Panthers a 1-0 lead over the Dallas Stars when he tipped a point shot from Aaron Ekblad past Jake Oettinger just 28 seconds into the first period at Nokia Arena on Friday.

The previous record was set by Detroit’s Tomas Holmstrom, who scored 31 seconds into a game against the St. Louis at the 2009 Premiere Series in Stockholm, Sweden.

Not done there, Rodrigues added another point later in the period when he assisted on a goal for Tampere native Aleksander Barkov, who extended Florida’s early lead to 2-0 much to the delight of the crowd.

Starting to find his groove, Rodrigues earned his second multi-point game of the season.

Despite not being from Finland, the speedy forward is considered an honorary Finn.

In a Q&A with FloridaPanthers.com prior to the Global Series, Eetu Luostarinen noted that out of all his teammates, Rodrigues was the one he could most envision living in Finland.

“I think Roddy pretty excited,” Luostarinen said of Rodrigues, who led the Panthers in scoring during last year’s Stanley Cup Final. “He’s actually been there before. I think he’s still excited to go back there.”

Following the opening match of the Global Series, the Panthers and Stars will return to the ice for Game 2 on Saturday at 12 p.m. ET.