Marco Kasper wins NHL debut with the Detroit Red Wings against Toronto

Marco Kasper, who was named the youngest player of the year in the history of "Powerplay" at the beginning of March,selected, at 18 years and eleven months, he is now also the youngest Austrian NHL debutant in ice hockey history. Vorarlberg's Marco Rossi was just over 20 years and three months old when he made his first NHL appearance on 6 January 2022.

After Reinhard Divis, Christoph Brandner, Thomas Pöck, Thomas Vanek, Andreas Nödl, Michael Grabner, Michael Raffl and Marco Rossi, Kasper is the ninth Austrian to have played in the world's best ice hockey league.

Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde started the Carinthian at centre between wingers Andrew Copp and Lucas Raymond in the first NHL game of his career. Kasper, who celebrates his 19th birthday on Easter Saturday, logged a total of 14:59 minutes of ice time, registered one shot on goal and delivered three hits.

The match began with a brief scare for the debutant: after just under eight minutes, he covered the puck in the crease. The officials awarded the Maple Leafs a penalty shot, but they were unable to convert it.

The Klagenfurt native was narrowly denied by Toronto netminder Ilya Samsonov on one occasion while following up a rebound. Samsonov had entered the game in the first period for the injured Matt Murray. Kasper, wearing the new No. 92 – he wore 24 at Rögle and with the national team – was prominent, competed well in the battles and showed during a minor altercation in the second period that he is also prepared to go where it hurts.

Dylan Larkin was the match-winner for the Red Wings with a hat-trick.