After 11 NHL games, Vancouver Canucks forward Arshdeep Bains finally found the scoresheet on Saturday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins and a goal to boot.

After some sustained pressure from the Penguins in the Canucks’ zone, the puck pops out to the circle for Bains, who taps it to Sprong as he generates speed out of the zone. Sprong’s speed is too much for Penguins defenceman Erik Karlsson to handle as he blazes by him and rips a shot from the left-side faceoff dot. Bains stays with the play, gliding past Matt Grzelcyk’s as the puck kicks off Alex Nedeljkovic’s right pad, leaving Bains all alone to bury the rebound for his first NHL goal.

This capped off a miraculous second period as the Canucks fell down 2-0 early in the second period off the stick of Bryan Rust. Just over two minutes later, Elias Pettersson got his first goal of the season off the feed from Conor Garland.

Then, Kiefer Sherwood picks off the puck in the neutral zone to spring him and Teddy Blueger on a two-on-one. Blueger makes a quick move to pull the Kris Letang and sends a pass under his stick to Sherwood for a one-timer to tie the game at two 43 seconds later.

As Al Murdoch announces Sherwood’s goal, Brock Boeser collects the loose puck in the defensive zone and fires a pass through the neutral zone to send JT Miller on a breakaway. He rips a shot from the right faceoff circle, stopped by Nedeljkovic. Miller follows up with the play and crashes the net, which leads to the puck ricocheting past Nedeljkovic and in the net to give the Canucks the lead just over one minute after their first goal.

And then, of course, Bains gives the Canucks a two-goal lead not even six minutes after their first goal of the game. The crowd in Rogers Arena gave Bains an electric cheer with a standing ovation for his first goal in the pros.

“It all just happened so fast, and all the guys were so happy. It was a special moment,” Bains said on his first NHL goal. “[It] Started in the D-zone, kind of just got the puck on my stick flat-footed and Sprong made an unreal rush on the play. I just went to the net when he was going towards it and he made a good play off the pad and put it past the goalie.”

Bains on how his teammate greeted him after his goal:

“It was a timeout, everyone came over and gave me a hug. It’s something I won’t forget.”

“It’s been a journey. There a lot you’ve got to learn, and you’ve got to learn quickly. The guys above me and the staff helped me believe in me. It feels like a step closer tonight.”

He later shared that he and the Sedin’s [Daniel and Henrik] had a chat before the game, telling Bains that they had a good feeling about tonight. And that feeling came true as he potted his first NHL goal with both his mom and dad were in attendance tonight.

Bains’ story to the NHL is inspiring for many. After going undrafted, the Surrey native didn’t quit on his dream. When he started to impress NHL representatives, he told his manager to do whatever he had to do to get himself a contract with his hometown team. The 23-year-old grinded his way through the AHL, playing two seasons in Abbotsford, playing 125 games, registering 29 goals and 64 assists for 93 points. During the 2023-24 season, Bains represented Abbotsford in the AHL All-Star game, where he earned tournament MVP after scoring the game-winning goal in the finals.

After being sent down on Thursday, Bains made sure to give them a reason to keep him up with the big club tonight.