Casey DeSmith surrenders goal 11 seconds into NHL career

When Casey DeSmith imagined his NHL debut it probably ranged from a 50-save shutout to simply a win – depending on his level of ambition.

What it certainly didn’t involve was allowing a goal almost immediately after entering the crease. Unfortunately for the University of New Hampshire product, that’s precisely what happened on Sunday.

Just 11 seconds into his NHL career, Blake Wheeler of the Winnipeg Jets put a puck over his right shoulder to give the Jets a 5-0 lead and complete a hat trick for Wheeler.

To be fair to DeSmith, it was a nice move by the Jets winger and far from a soft tally. It’s not like he allowed a trickler from centre. Even so, it’s got to be a little frustrating and embarrassing for a little-known 26-year-old getting an unlikely shot.

On the plus side, DeSmith brought a 3-0 record and .965 save percentage at the AHL level into Sunday’s action – so he seems unlikely to keep up the 327.27 goals against average he was initially on pace for.