Hi, Stefen here. The story you are about to read was from right after the game. However, I asked Eklund about Saturday, the crowd singing “Happy Birthday”, seeing his mom post-game, and his thoughts ahead of his first-ever taste of the Rangers-Islanders rivalry in a regular-season game.
I added that conversation to the story. Enjoy, and thanks for reading!
You only turn 20 once. You also only score your first NHL goal once.
Well, New York Islanders rookie forward Victor Eklund accomplished both today, with his mom in the stands to celebrate an amazing 6-0 win over the New Jersey Devils on Saturday:
As Player of the Game, Eklund also joined MSG Network’s Shannon Hogan on the Islanders’ bench for a postgame interview.
That’s when the entirety of UBS Arena sang happy birthday to the birthday boy:
After the game, we spoke with Eklund about the achievement, while The Elmonters also asked Bo Horvat, Cal Ritchie, and Simon Holmstrom about the rookie's play, who also recorded an assist for his first career two-point night.
We then caught up with Eklund on Monday to get his thoughts a few days after the game: