On opening night at Maple Leaf Gardens on October 30, 1943 over 80 years ago, rookie Gus Bodnar scored his first NHL goal just 15 seconds into his first NHL game. The goal was scored on New York Rangers goalie Ken McAuley, assisted by Bob Davidson and Moe Morris.
Bodnar wasn’t done. He assisted on a Lorne Carr goal 1:17 into the second period and scored his second of the game and NHL career at 1:0 of the third. The Maple Leafs won the game 5-2 and Gus was on his way to a Calder Trophy winning 1943-44 NHL season as rookie of the year.
Fast goals were a thing for Bodnar. On March 23, 1952, now with the Chicago Blackhawks, Gus was teammed up with Bill Mosienko. In that game, also against the New York Rangers, Mosienko set the current record for fastest three goals by one player with a 21 second hat trick. The lesser publicized record is that Bodnar assisted on all three for the fastest three assists in NHL history.
Two members of the Buffalo Sabres have come close to breaking Bodnar’s rookie record. Danny Gare scored his first just 18 seconds into his first NHL game on October 10, 1974. Alexander Mogilny took 20 seconds to score his first in a game on October 5, 1989.