Vitaly Pinchuk Finally Debuts in the NHL. And Immediately Scores His First Point VIDEO
"Nashville" lost, but the Belarusian debutant was one of the best on the team.
Belarusian forward Vitaly Pinchuk of "Nashville" finally debuted in the NHL. He took to the ice in an away regular season match against "Ottawa".
The 24-year-old Belarusian was placed in the nominally second line. And already in the first period, he scored his debut point. In the 9th minute, Pinchuk made an assist and helped Ross Colton open the scoring. Vitaly became the second Belarusian to score a point in his debut NHL game. The first was Ilya Protas from "Washington" last season.
Ross Colton's first #Preds goal Vitali Pinchuk's first @NHL point https://t.co/Lka7IFvHeR
As a result, "Nashville" lost to "Ottawa" in a shootout – 2:3. Pinchuk spent 11 minutes 10 seconds on the ice, including 2 minutes 12 seconds on the power play, took one shot wide of the goal and finished the game with a plus/minus rating of "+1".
"Nashville" earned 6 points in 5 games and ranks fifth in its Central Division.
Last season, Pinchuk played for Minsk "Dynamo" and became one of the best forwards in the KHL. In the summer, the Belarusian chose among offers from almost all NHL clubs and signed a one-year contract with "Nashville" for a salary of just over a million dollars.
However, Pinchuk's debut in the world's strongest league was delayed. Initially, he was sent to the farm club, then returned to the main team, but was kept as a reserve. The Belarusian had to wait for the fifth game of the season and an injury to his teammate Mavrik Bourque to finally take to the ice.
Pinchuk became the 20th Belarusian hockey player to play in the NHL.
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