93.7 The Fan (PITTSBURGH) - Avery Hayes and Ben Kindel both score two goals in the Pens 5-2 win against Buffalo.
Hayes was called up due to some injuries for the Pens and he took full advantage of the opportunity with two first period goals.
Hayes skated in between two defenders on a pass down the ice behind the net from Ilya Solovyov into the Sabres zone and beat Alex Lyon with a wrist shot to score his first NHL goal. With 1:13 in the period, Hayes netted his second after a no look bandhanded pass from Anthony Mantha found him in front of the net.
"Honestly I blacked out a bit," said Hayes after the win. "It was a ton of fun and it was a great win for the team. "Right now I can't put it into words, I'm just excited to see my family after, they were able to make the trip so I have no words right now. It was a ton of fun."
"It was unbelievable. The day that he's had, he woke up this morning, not a thought of playing a game in the NHL and then the day he had, to travel in, juimp right in, score the way he did the first but the second one another beautiful goal and then throughout the whole game he was awesome," said head coach Dan Muse after the win. "Special day for him and his family and obviously he played a huge role there in us getting the two points. He'll remember this one."
"Anybody's first game is a day they're never going to forget but talk about coming in here and making an impact, especially in a way, like I said, this was last minute, this all came up this morning. The way it all came about is incredible. Thrilled for him but he's a guy who has worked for everything to be here. Him having this day the way he kind of just continued to work and not be denied and to get this moment, attack this moment the way he did. It's unbelievable."
In the second period, Ben Kindel pressed and created a turnover as Jacob Bryson spun out on his skates and lost the puck. Kindel took the puck and had Justin Brazeau to his right, creating a 2 on 1 rush towards the net. Kindel scored with a wrist shot past Lyon to make it 3-1 Pens. He added an empty netter in the third period.
For Kindel, he has scored 14 goals and has 13 assists in his rookie season with the Pens. Kindel has recorded two points in three of the Pens last six games. They won all three of them.
Pittsburgh heads into the Olympic break with 70 points, 8 points behind Carolina for first place in the Metro Division. They went 14-3-3 since December 23rd.