WHL Stars & NHL Debuts: Ostapchuk helps Senators skate to victory
Former Vancouver Giants Captain and Winnipeg ICE forward Zack Ostapchuk made his NHL debut with the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday, March 12.
The 6-foot-3, 195-pound winger logged two shots on goal and one hit in 12:44 of ice time, but his biggest play won’t make the scoresheet.
With the Senators and Pittsburgh Penguins deadlocked at 1-1 in overtime, Ostapchuk intercepted a puck intended for Sidney Crosby and started the breakout that led to Drake Batherson’s game-winning goal.
“I’m going to remember this for the rest of my life,” Ostapchuk told reporters post-game. “It was it was probably the coolest night of my life.
I was a little surprised when they gave me a tap and said you’re going (in overtime) and then I saw Crosby out there. Heart beating a little bit. I’m very thankful that they trusted me to go out there.”
"I'm going to remember this for the rest of my life, it was probably the coolest night of my life."
Zack Ostapchuk on making his NHL debut pic.twitter.com/mqn5udVda6
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) March 13, 2024
“Your first game, you get out there in front of 20,000 people and you look up and you’ve got to take on Sid 1-on-1,” Drake Batherson said. “‘I’m sure he’ll never forget that and, yeah, credit to him, he started that whole thing.”
Ostapchuk was selected by Ottawa in the second round, 39th overall, in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft and has 13 goals and nine assists in 56 games with the AHL’s Belleville Senators this season.
The St. Albert, Alta. product played parts of five seasons with the Vancouver Giants, where he served as Captain for two campaigns, before closing out his junior career with a WHL Finals run with the Winnipeg ICE.
He tallied 69 goals and 65 assists in 187 regular season games, but did his best work in the playoffs, where he averaged more than a point per game with 16 goals and 22 helpers in 32 appearances.
On the international stage, Ostapchuk captured back-to-back gold medals with Team Canada at the IIHF World Junior Championship in 2022 and 2023.
The Senators are back in action on March 14 when they visit Columbus for a tilt at 7:00 p.m. EST.
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