The NHL schedule makers cooked with this one.
Exactly five years from the date, the Carolina Hurricanes and Toronto Maple Leafs are once again playing at Scotiabank Arena, where in 2020, emergency backup goaltender David Ayres helped backstop the Canes to a 6-3 win.
It was one of the most memorable games in hockey history as Ayres, who wound up playing nearly half of an entire NHL game despite only ever having played as high as Junior-B before, became the first ever EBUG to be credited with a win.
The Canes had lost both Petr Mrazek and James Reimer to injury over the course of the evening, so they were forced to turn to the 42-year-old Zamboni driver.
Sitting on a 3-1 lead, they weren’t in the worst position and a power play goal helped push that to 4-1, but the Maple Leafs immediately got two quick ones on Ayres following that to make it a one-goal game.
But the EBUG locked in from there, stopping eight of the 10 shots he faced, and the Hurricanes became a team possessed with one of the strongest defensive efforts I can remember from a team, including two fantastic penalty kills.
Some extra insurance goals by Carolina in the third period locked in the win and Ayres became an overnight sensation.
He was the talk of the town for weeks and was hosting autograph sessions and appearing on nearly every morning talk show.
Again, it was really one of those iconic hockey moments that won’t ever be forgotten and for these two teams to once again be facing off on the five-year anniversary, it’s pretty cool.
“That was a special game and just unique the way it went down and the way we played and all that,” said Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour on Friday. “That’s a great memory to have. To have those memories in the game of hockey is special.”
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