In his fifth NHL game, former St. Cloud State forward Mikey Eyssimont scored his first goal for the Winnipeg Jets.
Eyssimont, a 26-year-old forward from Littleton, Colo., scored on a rebound at 6:44 of the second period in the Jets’ 4-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes at Canada Life Center in Winnipeg. Eyssimont scored on a rebound of a shot by David Gustafsson on a rush. In the game, Eyssimont got on the ice for 11 shifts for 6 minutes, 31 seconds.
“It was a one-knee drop on my forehand,” Eyssimont said to reporters after the game. “I had quite a bit of net to shoot at, and there were some bodies flying around the net. I just had to tap it in.”
It was the fourth game this season for Eyssimont with the Jets. He made his NHL debut on April 11 in Montreal.
Eyssimont began the season with the Manitoba Moose in the AHL and had two goals, nine points, 27 penalty minutes and was a plus-8 in nine games there before getting called up to the Jets.
In 2021-22, Eyssimont had his best season as a pro. He had career-bests in goals (18), assists (24), points (42), penalty minutes (90) and plus/minus (plus-15) in 58 games with Manitoba.
Eyssimont was a fifth-round draft pick of the Los Angeles Kings in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. He played three full seasons for the Kings’ AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign, before signing with the Jets organization last season.
Eyssimont played for St. Cloud State from 2015-18 and had 45 goals (tied for 30th), 10 game-winning goals (tied for 10th), 16 power-play goals (tied for 25th), 57 assists (tied for 39th) and 102 points (tied for for 33rd) in 115 career games.
He was the MVP of the North Star College Cup and NCHC Frozen Faceoff as a freshman, an All-NCHC honorable mention pick as a sophomore and an All-NCHC Second Team pick as a junior.
Before he arrived at St. Cloud State, Eyssimont played for the Fargo Force (2013-15) and Sioux Falls Stampede (2015) in the USHL.
Eyssimont is the second former SCSU player to score his first NHL goal this season. Defenseman Nick Perbix scored his first NHL goal for the Tampa Bay Lightning on Nov. 5.
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