The result was not what Ken Appleby would have hoped but the memory of his first ever NHL start will last with him forever.
The North Bay native made his first official start in goal for the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night in a 3-0 setback at the hands of the Nashville Predators.
Appleby made his official NHL debut on Saturday in a relief appearance on Saturday night when Keith Kincaid went down with an injury. Then he got another opportunity on Tuesday in Boston when Cory Schneider went down with an injury after 40 minutes of play.
The relief appearances were perfect; 24 saves in relief of Kincaid and a modest 4 saves against the Bruins in the third period.
"Any kind of time in the net was definitely good," Appleby told reporters about the opportunities.
"I think it helped me tonight, to calm myself early on and get some saves early.”
After more than 94 minutes of flawless goaltending, the North Bay native saw his NHL shutout streak end off the stick of a long slap shot by P.K. Subban around the midpoint of the second period.
"He's got a great shot," Appleby told the media post-game about the Subban blast.
"I learned that really fast. But I feel like that's one I'd like to have, for sure.”
The Predators added two more, one on a deflection, the other on a shorthanded 2 on 1, but Appleby was still solid in a 24 save performance for the struggling Devils.
His play has caught the attention of his new NHL teammates.
"He played fantastic," Devils captain Andy Greene told NHL.com.
"He's played well in all three of his appearances. It's good that he gave us a shot, all game. We let him down. We didn't give him any support. But he played extremely well, extremely confident. It was good to see him play that well again, and actually get a warmup this time, instead of going into the last couple of situations that he's been in."
Once he found out he was making the start, Appleby’s Mom and Dad (Brian and Tina) made the once-in-a-lifetime trip to Newark for the memorable start along with his sister and her boyfriend in tow.
"It seemed like the longest day, really," Appleby said about waiting for game time.
"I didn't really sleep much. I'm just glad I got it out of the way. I wish we could've gotten a win, but I'm just glad that one's over with, and hopefully next time, we get a win.”
The 22-year-old is hoping for another first, and that is his first NHL victory when that next start comes his way.
