Penguins forward Kasperi Kapanen finding more offense by going to the net

Forward Kasperi Kapanen helped spark the Penguins’ 3-2 comeback shootout win against the Winnipeg Jets at PPG Paints Arena on Sunday. His goal at 6 minutes, 55 seconds of the third period broke up the Jets’ shutout bid.

And it came with a little bit of luck.

After making a strong effort to keep the puck in the offensive zone, Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin deked around Blake Wheeler above the left circle, then fed a pass to the slot. Kapanen, who was engaged in a battle with Jets defenseman Brenden Dillon, was not in position to accept the puck with his stick but had it deflect off his left skate and carom into the net past goaltender Connor Hellebuyck’s left foot.

It was his ninth goal of the season. And it looked a lot like his eighth goal of the season.

During a 3-2 road loss to the Dallas Stars on Jan. 8, Kapanen re-directed a wrister by defenseman Marcus Pettersson from the front of the crease.

Far more renowned for his ability to create offense from the perimeter using his speed and a laser of a wrister, Kapanen acknowledged he can inflate his offensive figures from more combative areas of the rink such as the gravitational field of the opposing crease.

“That’s where you kind of score a lot of goals, just going to the net,” Kapanen said. “The one in Dallas was a great shot by (Pettersson). I didn’t do much there. (Sunday, Malkin) just kind of threw it in my feet. I just tried to get a piece of it somehow. That’s something I’ve got to start doing more. I’m not shooting it in the net as much right now. Just keep doing that.”

His coaches would like to see him keep doing that while still presenting a threat from the outside.

“When he’s at his best, he’s challenging our opponents with speed, with wide speed off the rush, trying to challenge defensemen to have stay with him wide in taking pucks to the net,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “When he gets inside the dots and he’s looking for opportunities at the net-front or the scoring area — or when he stays close in the offensive zone down underneath the hashmarks to help his linemates maintain possession and continue to push pressure on our opponents in the offensive zone — that’s when (Kapanen is) at his best.

“Sometimes, (Kapanen) has some elements of inconsistency to his game, and we’re trying to help him find that consistency that I think is important for us to have success consistently. We’re looking for (Kapanen) to bring the same game, each and every night, in using his strengths to help us have success. The biggest strength that (Kapanen) brings is his speed and his offensive instincts. When he challenges our opponents with his speed in all three zones, I think (Kapanen) has the ability to have a real positive impact on the game.”

No shortage of work for Jarry

Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review

Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry stops Jets forward Pierre-Luc Dubois during a shootout at PPG Paints Arena on Sunday.

Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry had one of his best games of the season on Sunday, making 27 saves on 29 shots in regulation and overtime. Several stops came on odd-man rushes. Additionally, he was perfect on all three shots he faced in the shootout.

Sunday marked his 33rd game of the season, tied for the second-highest figure among NHL goaltenders.

With the Penguins at the midway point of their season — 41 of 82 games — Sullivan the Penguins have leaned on Jarry a bit too much to this point of the campaign.

“We’ve given him a heavy workload to this point,” Sullivan said. “He’s had one of the more heavy workloads in the league, and he’s handled it extremely well to this point. He’s played really sound hockey for us. I thought he had a terrific game tonight. Is he a guy that can manage a heavy workload and is at his best with a heavy workload? To this point, he’s shown an ability to handle it.

“Moving forward, I just think it’s important that we manage that workload as well. We’re aware of that. We’re going to try to do that moving forward to put Tristan in the best position to be successful.”

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