MacEachern excited for first NHL goal

by Chris Pinkert / St. Louis Blues

They say good things come to those who wait.

On Monday afternoon, after three full seasons of college hockey at Michigan State University, 132 games in the American Hockey League with two different teams and (finally!) four games in the NHL, Mackenzie MacEachern buried his first career NHL goal.

"It was a pretty cool feeling to score that one," MacEachern told stlouisblues.com after Tuesday's team practice in Anaheim. "I saw the opening, seized the moment, just saw it and took it."

The goal came in the first period against Los Angeles Kings goalie Jonathan Quick at Staples Center, with the bright lights of Hollywood serving as the backdrop. Jordan Nolan won a face-off in the offensive zone and knocked the puck to the boards, where Ivan Barbashev won a battle for the puck and pushed it back to Vince Dunn on the point. Dunn's shot made it through traffic, bounced off Quick's pad and squirted out to MacEachern, who made a diving play to beat Kings' defensemen Derek Forbort to the loose puck for the goal.

"I thought I was all by myself, but I felt his stick come down on me and I was a little nervous it wasn't going to go in," MacEachern recalls. "But it crossed the line and went in... I use my body to get in front of the net and just bang home rebounds. That's probably what you're going to get from me and hopefully I can keep doing that."

"It's always fun to see a guy get his first goal," Blues Head Coach Craig Berube said. "'Mac' has come up here and played pretty good for us. He skates really well, he's getting in on the forecheck and banging bodies.

"He's playing a hard game, and that's his game."

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