Martin Fehervary’s electric rookie season continued on Sunday when the Slovak defenseman scored the first shorthanded goal of his career against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Joining the rush, Fehervary took a pass from Tom Wilson and fired a wrist shot past Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry short side.
The goal continued a special season for Fehervary, who made the team out of training camp (after two seasons in the minors) and is playing on the Capitals’ first defensive pairing with John Carlson.
“It was a great play by Tommy,” Fehervary said of his goal to the media. “I was thinking like if I can pass it or whatever, but I see the lane. I know I can score so I just hit it. I’m happy so hopefully, he’s happy, too.”
Wilson was asked after the game if he was surprised the 22-year-old rearguard didn’t pass it back.
“He honestly didn’t even look at me,” Wilson said laughing. “Once I passed it to him, he was shooting the whole way, but I love it. If you’re going to shoot it, that’s a great shot. That’s twice now where I’ve given it to him and he’s just buried it. I’m completely fine with that.”
Wilson added that Fehervary “was one of our best players tonight. He was flying. It looked like he was playing forward at times. He was up the ice so much. He’s an awesome kid.”
The shorty gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead and came on Hockey Fights Cancer night. The Capitals wore lavender-colored jerseys during warmups and held a special ceremony before puck drop where players from both teams stood together around the faceoff circle.
A moment of recognition in Washington. #HockeyFightsCancer 💜 pic.twitter.com/zeOfI3o8BB
— NHL (@NHL) November 15, 2021
Fehervary reflected on the moment later at home and dedicated his goal to his late mother, Gabike.
“This one for u Mum!!” Fehervary wrote on his Instagram Story on top of a video of his goal. “I really miss you #hockeyfightscancer.” He added, “Great win, especially on this night.”
Gabike Fehervary was diagnosed with lung cancer and died in 2009 when Martin was only nine-years-old. The death rocked Martin’s family, leaving his father to raise the couple’s three children all by himself. Fehervary has an older brother and a younger sister. They were 15 and six respectively when their mother passed.
“It happened during the summer when we weren’t training, but hockey was the thing that allowed me not to think about it,” Fehervary said in a Slovak-language interview with SME during the 2018 World Championship. “School was fine too, but we had a great group in hockey. Many people helped us at the time. We spent weekends, vacations together, which helped me.”
Not only did Fehervary lean into hockey and school more, but he also spent as much time as possible with his family.
“I had a wonderful relationship with my mom,” Fehervary said. “It wasn’t easy to go through that period of time, especially for my dad. We were on our own.
“We have come to terms with it, it’s over, but we can still feel it.”
Hopefully, the goal Sunday gave Martin and his family more closure.
Translation by Alexandra Petáková
Headline photo:
