Mission’s Gage Goncalves made his NHL debut last week, suiting up with the Tampa Bay Lightning for a pair of games.
The Lightning recalled Goncalves from the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League (AHL) on Thursday (Jan. 11) and he saw his first NHL action against the New Jersey Devils the same night.
The Mission product saw nine minutes of action in his debut, dealing one hit and picking up a pair of roughing penalties with two minutes remaining in the first period. Tampa secured a 4-3 win over New Jersey in overtime.
On Saturday (Jan. 13), Goncalves was on the ice for just under 11 minutes in Tampa’s 5-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks. He dished out one hit in the contest and also received a tripping penalty early in the third period.
The Lightning re-assigned Goncalves to Syracuse on Sunday (Jan. 14), vice president and general manager Julien BriseBois announced.
Goncalves has 176 career AHL games under his belt with the Crunch, tallying 37 goals and 117 points. Additionally, he appeared in 10 career Calder Cup Playoff games with Syracuse, producing three goals and six points.
The 22-year-old forward leads the Crunch in assists (23), power-play assists (10) and points (30) through 33 games played this season.
He was named an AHL All-Star for the North Division last Wednesday (Jan. 10) before his NHL call-up.
Goncalves previously played for the Everett Silvertips in the WHL and Yale Secondary in Abbotsford. Tampa Bay selected the six-foot, 181-pound centre in the second round of the 2020 NHL Draft.
READ MORE: Mission’s Gage Goncalves signs three-year contract with Tampa Bay Lightning
