CORALVILLE, Iowa – There were a lot of goals scored Friday night across the hockey world. They all vary in importance based on the score of the game, the situation at hand, the milestones approached or surpassed. But there was one goal, or maybe two, that were bigger than all of them.

Each of those two goals came off the stick of Pavel Novak, a 21-year-old Czech-born player for the ECHL’s Iowa Heartlanders Saturday night.

Novak is also a former fifth-round pick of the Minnesota Wild, the team with which he is currently under NHL contract with. But above all, Pavel Novak is a survivor.

Dating back to May of 2022, Novak had been in the fight of his life. Diagnosed with Hodgkins lymphoma, the former Kelowna Rocket had previously gone through months of testing to determine why he was sweating and sleeping more than usual. 

Hodgkins lymphoma is an aggressive form of cancer that impacts the lymphatic system. It is the same cancer that Mario Lemieux was diagnosed with and beat during his own playing career. Doctors were optimistic that they would be able to treat Novak and that he would be able to beat the disease. 

Last October, Novak was declared cancer free. While the clean bill of health came and gave Novak what he called the best day of his life, the road to recovery and being able to play again was long and arduous.

ICYMI: Pavel Novak released a statement earlier today stating he has beaten the cancer diagnosis he received in June.

Novak, a @mnwild prospect, scored 72 points for the @Kelowna_Rockets during the 2021-22 season.

📰 | https://t.co/2qzY3Ufo4z
📸 | Steve Dunsmoor pic.twitter.com/1QmxiHAFwF

— The WHL (@TheWHL) October 5, 2022

Novak missed the entire 2022-23 hockey season, but the Wild have stuck by their prospect and have put him on a plan to try to get him back on track to achieve his ultimate goals.

That includes starting this season with their ECHL affiliate, the Iowa Heartlanders.

Novak made an instant impact, leading the team in shots on goal in their opening-night loss to the Rapid City Rush Thursday night, showing very few signs of rust despite his long layoff.

Really awesome to see #mnwild prospect Pavel Novak. Cancer free, got back on ice for first time in December. Not participating fully in development camp due to a lower body injury. But plans to be ready for training camp. “It’s been amazing and kind of emotional for me.” pic.twitter.com/1mzwYwZNQm

— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithNHL) July 8, 2023

On Friday, however, Novak showed that he’s ready to put his career back on track as he found the back of the net twice.

His first goal helped the Heartlanders even the score against Rapid City and came after Novak hustled to catch up to teammate Jesse Jacques for an odd-man break. Jacques found Novak in space and the right winger slipped the puck through Rapid City goalie Connor Murphy.

Then, in the third period, Novak skated into space and moved to the outside before surprising Murphy with a quick, hard shot that slid across the ice and through the Rush netminder’s legs for a go-ahead goal.

He also had a good look at the possible hat trick late in the third period, but this time Murphy got the better of him.

In the end, Novak and the Heartlanders dropped a 4-3 decision to Rapid City in overtime. While a hockey player would never admit the result of a game is immaterial, this one had to feel a little special for a player that hadn’t scored any goals since April of 2022 and went through a lot of adversity just to get back on the ice.

There were a lot of big goals Friday night, but you really won't find any that meant more than these two.