TORONTO (AP) - David Ayres was sitting in the stands with his wife at Scotiabank Arena when Carolina Hurricanes goalie James Reimer went down with an injury.
The on-call emergency netminder in Toronto, Ayers left his seat and got half-dressed into his gear on the off-chance something might happen to Carolina's second option, Petr Mrazek.
Midway through the second period, Ayres noticed his cellphone started to blow up. What he didn't realize was Mrazek had been hurt in a scary collision with Maple Leafs forward Kyle Clifford and was down on the ice.
Next thing the 42-year-old Zamboni driver knew, he was walking down the tunnel and into the spotlight.
And not long after, he had an improbable first NHL win. He is the oldest goalie in NHL history to win his regular-season debut.
Ayres allowed goals on the first two shots he faced before settling down and stopping the next eight in a suffocating defensive performance by his new teammates as Carolina picked up a stunning 6-3 victory Saturday night against the Maple Leafs.
"I had a couple of text messages that told me to get in there," Ayres said in front a throng of reporters. "I hadn't seen the footage (of Mrazek's injury). I was in the media room by myself and a guy came in and said, 'Get going. Get ready.'
"It was wild, it was fun," said Ayres, who gets paid $500 and gets to keep his jersey.
Ayres, who had a kidney transplant 15 years ago and wasn't sure if he would ever play hockey again, has been a practice goalie with the Leafs and the club's American Hockey League affiliate, the Toronto Marlies, for the last eight years.
The native of nearby Whitby, Ontario, faces shots from professional players on an almost-daily basis during the season but never thought he'd be called into service in an NHL game.
"These guys were awesome," Ayres said. "They said to me, 'Have fun with it, don't worry about how many goals go in, this is your moment, have fun with it.'"
He did more than that, and was greeted with raucous cheers from the Hurricanes in their locker room after finishing a post-game TV interview.
"I had no idea I was going to get a shower before I got in the shower," Ayres, the game's first star, said with a grin. "I got one."
Not long after the final buzzer, the Hurricanes were hawking T-shirts on Twitter sporting the stand-in goalie's No. 90.
"It's pretty special," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "I told the guys after the game, 'Thank him because that just gave (us) an incredible memory.'"
Ayres made his first save late in the second on Auston Matthews as Carolina led 4-3 through a wild 40 minutes and shut things down in the third.
"These guys," Ayres said of what he'll remember most. "How great they were to me. The crowd in Toronto was unreal. Even though I was on the other team they were so receptive. Every time I made a save I could hear them cheering for me.
"Awesome."
Ayres will get another turn in the spotlight - this time in Carolina
The Hurricanes said they are bringing the Zamboni driver to Raleigh for their game Tuesday night against the Dallas Stars.
"See you Tuesday, Davey!" the club said on its Twitter account. "Ayres will be in the building on Tuesday and will be our VectorSecurity Siren Sounder!"
"They're flying me down to Carolina for their game on Tuesday so I'll get to spend more time with the guys, which is good," Ayres said Toronto on Sunday at the Maple Leafs' practice facility. "They're a great team, great organization."
Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin also announced Tuesday will be "David Ayres Day" in the city.
The Hurricanes said Ayres will get royalties from the T-shirt sales and a portion of the proceeds will go to a kidney foundation in honor of the goaltender, who underwent a kidney transplant in 2004.