Matthew Wood scored his first National Hockey League goal on Oct. 30 against the Philadelphia Flyers. (BROOKS BRAATEN PHOTO/NASHVILLE PREDATORS)
PHILADELPHIA, PENN. – A Nashville Predators forward with family connections to Miramichi scored his first National Hockey League goal in his fourth game since being called up nearly two weeks ago.
Matthew Wood of Nanaimo, B.C., recorded his first NHL goal in the Predators’ 4-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Oct. 30 at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
Wood, the son of Miramichi product Jamie Wood, also notched a goal and a helper in Nashville’s 4-2 win over the Calgary Flames on Nov. 1 at Bridgestone Arena. He added an assist in the Preds’ 5-4 overtime loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Monday at home and notched a goal in Nashville’s 3-2 OT loss to the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday at Grand Casino Arena.
The 20-year-old has six points (three goals, three assists) in nine games with the Preds since Oct. 23, when he was called up from the American Hockey League’s Milwaukee Admirals.
Wood’s other point came as an assist in Nashville’s 5-4 shootout win over the Los Angeles Kings on Oct. 25. The six-foot-four, 202-pound winger has five points (two, three) in 12 career NHL games with the Music City squad since last season.
The Predators drafted Wood 15th overall in 2023, several months before he suited up for Team Canada at the 2024 World Junior Hockey Championship in Sweden.
Wood has a goal in two games with Milwaukee this season. He had 39 points (17, 22) in as many games last year with the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers, a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I program, after putting up 62 points (27, 35) in 70 games with the Division I Connecticut Huskies in the previous two campaigns.
Wood also spent parts of two seasons with the British Columbia Hockey League’s Victoria Grizzlies, logging 98 points (50, 48) in 64 games.
