Nathan Legare couldn't have picked a better time to score his first pro goal.
It was last Saturday, and the Springfield Thunderbirds had forced overtime with a six-on-five goal in regulation.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton drew a power play 90 seconds into the extra frame, and Legare, Jordy Bellerive, Valtteri Puustinen, and P.O Joseph were on the ice for the second half of the power play.
Joseph was quarterbacking the power play at the point, and Legare was wide open at the top of the left circle. Joseph passed the puck to Legare, and by the time the Thunderbirds defenseman in front of Legare had fully dropped to one knee to block the shot, it was already in the back of the net:
"It was a great feeling, especially for the win," Legare told me in a Zoom call. "It was a great pass from P.O, and for sure I'm pretty happy that the first one is behind my back."
Since the Penguins drafted Legare in the third round in 2019, it was clear that his shot was one of his greatest strengths, if not the greatest. I remember speaking with Penguins goaltending prospect Alex D'Orio the day the Penguins drafted Legare -- D'Orio had played against Legare and then later with him as teammates in junior -- and he much preferred being teammates with Legare because of how dangerous his shot is.
"His shot is incredible, especially for his age," D'Orio said that day. "He just whips it. ... When I was in Saint John I played against him, and it was pretty hard because he's shooting from everywhere."
It was on full display in that over-time winner.
"It just comes off of his stick so fast," head coach J.D. Forrest told me of Legare's shot. "And he's pretty accurate with it. So whenever he's able to get around it like the one in Springfield, his shot, the location of it, perfectly right off the pipe there and really quick off his blade, it's just hard for goalies to read it sometime. ... His shot selection is smart, calculated."
Legare scored his second goal of the season on Friday. Bellerive's backhand attempt was stopped and popped high into the air, landing on the other side of crease. Legare quickly picked up the loose puck and tucked it between the goaltender's pads and the post:
Through 10 games, Legare has now scored two goals and two assists and is averaging just under three shots on goal per game.
When Legare was preparing over the summer for his first pro season, one of his main focuses was losing weight and getting faster. He dropped nearly 15 pounds, going from around 211 to 198 on his 6-foot-frame. He said during development camp that he now feels like his "first three, four, five steps are quicker" as a result, and now that he has a handful of professional games under his belt, he's seeing the benefits of that added speed.
"The D-men on the other side, I can out-speed them, I can be first on pucks with my first three steps," he said. "But I want to keep improving that because you're never fast enough in the game, especially in the way that hockey has changed. I think you need to be faster every day, and that's what I try to do."
Legare has spent the start of the season moving between Wilkes-Barre's second and third lines, almost always paired with linemates who play a similar fast, physical, gritty style of play like Bellerive, Filip Hallander, Kasper Bjorkqvist or Felix Robert.
"He's not shy as far as being physical," Forrest said of what he's seen from Legare so far this season. "He's best when he moves his feet. When he's turning it over out there, and he's getting himself open in spots, and then also being tough to play against down low, that's when he's had the most success."
"I try to keep my same game, finishing my checks," he said. "I think I'm better at creating more offense when I do that. I try to bring that every shift and every night."
Forrest said that in addition to just finding consistency in those habits, something Legare needs to focus on while adjusting to the pro game is his play in the defensive zone, which is typically the case with nearly every young player making the jump to the AHL out of junior.
"Just his awareness," Forrest said of what he'd like to see Legare improve. "A lot of shoulder checking, especially in the defensive zone, to know what's going on on his backside. It's the consistency of that, because when he puts all those things together, he's a better player."
Legare pointed to the play in the defensive zone as the facet of the pro game that has been the biggest adjustment for him coming out of the offensive-minded QMJHL, because the defensemen at this level "are more engaged in the zone."
Legare named his wall play specifically as a focus of his this season, saying that it's "pretty important to Pittsburgh."
"I think if you're good in your zone, you're going to have a chance in the other zone. It all starts from the defensive zone, and that's what I try to work on during practice, work on my wall play and try to do the right play with my center."
Legare is enjoying the freedom off the ice that comes with being a pro, too. He said that he and roommate Sam Houde eat dinner watching Netflix, instead of at the table like they did when they lived with their billet families.
"You can do whatever you want," he said of living as a pro. "Like, if you want to stay maybe two hours later after practice, you can do it. You can do whatever you want."
He's serious about staying at the rink several hours after practice ends, too.
"He's a real driven kid," Forrest said. "I was just talking to him on the ice and, oh, he's passionate. He loves the game. He wants to be out there all the time. It really means a lot to him. He really wants to learn, he's engaged, he takes charge of it. He's looking for video. He's asking questions. He's receptive to any coaching that we've been giving him. He's very receptive to any off-ice learning scenarios that we've gone through. And I think he tries to channel that in a positive way. He's been really good to work with because he wants to learn, he's willing to listen, and then he really goes out there and tries to execute the different things that we've discussed."
Legare doesn't have any special plans for the puck from his first pro goal. He said that he's going to take it back home, and put it in his collection alongside his first QMJHL goal puck, and his 100th QMJHL goal puck.
Parts of Legare's game -- his shot, his speed -- are NHL-caliber already. And as committed as he is to improving other areas of his game, it probably won't be too long before he's adding an NHL puck to that collection too.
