Carter Rowney has reached another milestone in his career: his first NHL goal. Rowney netted the game winner in the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 6-4 victory over the New Jersey Devils Friday night.
“That is a great feeling,” Rowney told Sam Kasan of Pens Inside Scoop. “I think it was a great play by my teammates, get that monkey off the back.”
“It’s fun anytime somebody gets their first goal,” adds captain Sidney Crosby. “I think you can tell that it kind of gives everybody a boost. For a lot of us, we have all been there and it is an exciting time. We are happy to see him get that one. It was a big goal in the game, so we are happy for him.”
The goal was surely made sweeter by the fact that his wife was in the crowd. The Sexsmith-born player also notched an assist on a Nick Bonino goal earlier in the night, making it his first career multi-point game as well.
“Rowney gave me a bullet,” says Bonino. “It’s one of those where I caught it and I thought I’d have to make another move. The pass was hard enough that [Devils’ goalie] Kinkaid bit the wrong way and I had a pretty easy goal.”
The former Grande Prairie Storm player now has three points in 16 games as a Penguin, after spending more than three seasons in the East Coast and American Hockey Leagues.