And the way he scored it will be more than familiar to those who watched the 23-year-old do his thing for four years at Mosaic Place — going to the net and finding the right place at the right time.
The goal came with 14:34 gone in the third period in a 7-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning and saw Jeannot jump on a mishandled rebound by goaltender Curtis McElhinney and pop a shot into the open net. Yakov Trenin took the original shot and was credited with the only assist.
Congratulations @Tanner_Jeannot on your first NHL goal https://t.co/8jzwL3otpS
— Moose Jaw Warriors (@MJWARRIORS) April 14, 2021
“It’s awesome to get that first one, it’s something I’m going to remember the rest of my life for sure, but more importantly we got the win tonight against a good team,” Jeannot said in the post-game interviews on NHL.com.
“Every night I just try and do everything I can to help the team win. If that’s make some hits or get in on the forecheck and be first on the puck and just be hard to play against, that’s what I’m going to do. Today I was fortunate to be able to help a bit out with the goal there, but I just want to do everything I can to help the team win every night.”
Jeannot had made his NHL debut on Mar. 2 against Carolina but had since returned to the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League. The Predators calling him back up was almost an act of mercy for the Wolves’ opponents: Jeannot had been torching the league, with 10 goals and 21 points in 13 games.
Jeannot was back in the Predators line-up against Dallas on April 11. In Tuesday night’s contest, he would play 11:41 through 16 shifts, with his goal coming on his only shot on net.
Asked if the celebration after his goal was what he dreamed it would be, he demurred.
“I don’t even really care about the celebration as much as the goal going in,” he asid. “I know I fell over a bit there, but I was too happy to be worried about it, then everyone came and surrounded me. This is something I’m never going to forget and it was just awesome.”
Interestingly enough, one of Jeannot’s opponents on the night was none other than Brayden Point, who scored Tampa’s first goal in the second period. The multiple time NHL All-Star played his final season in Moose Jaw when Jeannot was in his 18-year-old campaign with the Warriors.
Jeannot played four seasons for the Warriors from 2014 through 2018 and emerged as one of the team’s hardest working and most durable players, missing a single game in his final three seasons. He enjoyed his best campaign in his 20-year-old season, scoring 40 goals and 80 points in 72 games.
