Logan Cooley spoke following the Coyotes 4-3 loss to the Ducks on Wednesday night about the joy of finally scoring his first NHL game.
Despite losing 4-3 to the Anaheim Ducks in overtime, Wednesday night was a special one for the Arizona Coyotes as rookie Logan Cooley scored his first career NHL goal.
Going into this season, expectations were high for Cooley who was selected with the third overall pick by the Coyotes during the 2022 NHL Draft.
Prior to Wednesday night’s game, Cooley was playing well. The 19-year-old had six assists in eight games while continuing to flash off his blazing speed and impressive playmaking skills.
The only thing Cooley was missing was a goal and that first goal is hard to come by for a young player.
Cooley found himself basically all alone in front of the net last night and took advantage, floating the puck right past goaltender Lukas Dostal for his first career NHL goal.
The look on Cooley’s face was priceless. It was just clear how happy he truly was by his smile. Finally, all the pressure that was building up was lifted off of his shoulders.
“Obviously in the moment it was the best feeling ever,” Cooley said. “It felt like I was on cloud nine for a little bit but I would have taken the win over that any week. It's good to get off of my shoulders now I can just play and we'll focus on tomorrow's game.”
Now that Cooley finally did get that first goal, his confidence should skyrocket, not having that monkey on his back anymore.
This is just the start for the young center and Cooley is looking forward to continuing to build upon his game and contribute to team success.
“I like my start,” Cooley said. “I feel like I’m getting a little more comfortable each game and learning each game and I’m going to continue to learn. Obviously I’m still a young kid in this league but I like where it;s at right now. Obviously I want to build on a few things and get better at it for sure.”