Golden Knights’ Jiri Patera Has ‘Dream Come True’ in First Win

It's roughly 5:00 a.m. right now in Czechia, but that won't stop Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Jiri Patera from calling his parents to inform them of his first career NHL victory that he earned Sunday night in St. Louis. "I don't care if they are sleeping I am still going to call them," Patera said after the game.

Something tells me Jiri's family stayed up to watch his 30-save effort in the Golden Knight's 5-3 win over the Blues. Patera was stellar, looking calm in the net and providing big saves when needed to become the first Golden Knights drafted goaltender to nab a win with the team.

"He looked very comfortable in there. He battled through some shots to the head and also a skate issue. I thought they were all good goals against. He made some big saves and some timely saves and gave us some juice. He's another guy that has gone in and played well for us," said head coach Bruce Cassidy.

Patera was recalled on March 9th after goaltender Adin Hill went down with a lower-body injury. This marked the fourth injured goaltender for the VGK with Robin Lehner, Logan Thompson, and Laurent Brossoit all out as well.

"I felt good after I got to touch the puck. Guys made me feel really conformable and they made it really easy for me. I was a good win," said Patera.

With Jonathan Quick starting Saturday against the Hurricanes, Patera got the second half of the back-to-back. The tandem of Quick and Patera is certainly not one many people would have expected the VGK to have at the start of the season. But Patera is happy to have such a veteran goaltender to look up to.

"To have a guy like that backing you up it's awesome. I had his posters in my room when I was younger. Obviously, he is a hall of fame and it was awesome to have him behind me for my first one," said Patera.

Sunday marked a big game for youth in the Golden Knights organization making an impact. Not only did Patera earn his first career NHL win, but Pavel Dorofeyev scored both his first NHL goal and first NHL assist in the game.

"It's a dream come true to get the first win and the first start. It's unbelievable," added Patera.

The Golden Knights will play the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. to round out a five-game road trip.