Jonathan Drouin scores twice in first game since AHL demotion (Video)

If Jonathan Drouin was going to focus on hockey following his demotion to the AHL and trade request from the Tampa Bay Lightning, he got off to a strong start in front of reps from a reported 16 teams. 

Playing for the Syracuse Crunch, Drouin scored twice in the first period during a 6-4 loss to the Albany Devils. (Goal no. 1 comes at 38 seconds; goal no. 2 happens at 1:23 of the video.)

Drouin, who had been limited to only 19 games with the Lightning this season due to injury, was pleased with his AHL season debut, via Lindsay Kramer of syracuse.com:

“It’s been a while to get those high minutes. At first it was a little tiring, but as you get going it gets better and better, I felt good out there,” he said. “It’s my first game in a week now. I haven’t been played that much. But I’m happy with the game I played. I can definitely fix a couple things but it’s a good game. Definitely, I feel 100 percent, too, with the injury. So, that’s a good thing. It’s good to be out there playing those high minutes and having the chance to change a game like that.’’ 

With six games in the next nine days for the Crunch, Drouin will have plenty more opportunities to impress in front of what will probably be a growing scouting crowd at games. If he continues to thrive, the next decision for GM Steve Yzerman will be to either promote the 20-year old and get him more ice time in Tampa or deal him away and hope it doesn’t come back to haunt him.

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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy

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