Every player to reach the National Hockey League realizes a childhood dream.
Not many wait as long as Florida Panthers’ defenseman Jacob MacDonald.
Fewer than that enjoy the type of debut MacDonald experienced in Florida’s season-opening 2-1 shootout setback to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night.
The 25-year-old undrafted defensemen, who signed with the Panthers as an unrestricted free agent this summer, made an immediate impact for his new team. On MacDonald’s third shift, he cut down from the left point to collect a pass from Vincent Trocheck and fired a shot past Vezina Trophy finalist Andrei Vasilevskiy at the 5:58 mark of the first period.