MONTREAL -- Jason Zucker's revenge tour is in full swing.
The 30-year-old winger is playing his very best hockey as a member of the Penguins, and after a three-point night in the Penguins' 5-4 overtime loss to the Canadiens on Saturday night in Montreal, Zucker has 13 points in 13 games this season.
All three of Zucker's points were assists, but he could have finished the night with four if he'd been able to bury this dazzling chance in the first period:
This man is just playing out of his mind right now.
Zucker's skating ability is immensely under-appreciated, and was a big reason why he was able to create this chance in the first place. Save for Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang, nobody on the Penguins does a better job of utilizing and engaging the edges of their skate blades to manipulate defenders and defensive coverage.
Here, Zucker utilized backwards crossovers to create some space between himself and Evgeni Malkin while presenting himself as a pass target. This helped Zucker keep his speed and momentum, but the best part is how he went heel-to-heel in order to open up and face Malkin to receive the pass.
Malkin threaded the puck through to Zucker, and the latter did an outstanding job of splitting the defense and hanging onto the puck. At the very last second and with his momentum taking him the wrong way, Zucker significantly bent his knees and dug both of his edges into the ice to cut right in on goal for a backhand chance all alone.
That's the player the Penguins have been expecting since they acquired him in 2019-20.
