"Kapanen’s been fast, physical and looking to shoot the puck here tonight!"
That was Bob Errey's voice echoing over the television broadcast mere seconds before Kasperi Kapanen found the back of the net and exorcised a demon, scoring his first goal in 14 games -- eons in hockey time.
"It’s been a while since the last one," Kapanen said following the Penguins' 4-3 victory over the Golden Knights here at PPG Paints Arena on Thursday night.
As if his emotional celebration following the goal wasn't enough of an indicator:
And how about that massive smile on Jeff Carter's face?
As Kapanen hopped over the boards for that shift, Dejan Kovacevic turned to me and went, "Watch this: Kappy with the winner."
Not only did Kapanen score, but the goal did end up serving as the game-winner. It was as important to the team as it was to Kapanen, as the 26-year-old played in just his third game since Nov. 5, finding himself out of the lineup as a healthy scratch for most of November.
"Yeah, for sure," Kapanen responded when asked if there was a sense of validation in scoring. "Like I said, it’s been a while since I’ve been on the scoresheet. It’s a big goal for us in that game, too. I feel like I’ve been playing some bad games, I’ve been playing some good games, too. It just hasn’t been going in. Obviously, it feels good to score in this league."
He's not wrong, but up until Thursday night, the bad was mostly outweighing the good. Leading up to being healthy-scratched, Kapanen had gone seven games without a point and registered just six shots on goal during that time. His improved defensive metrics from last season slipped back to his poor career norms, and he simply wasn't doing enough to warrant a spot in the lineup.
"Tough," Kapanen told me when I asked what the last couple weeks have been like for him. "I think there isn’t a guy in the league that wants to be [healthy scratched] and I always want to compete with the guys and be battling out there. Obviously, the team is winning, which is great, but still, you want to work hard and be ready for getting your chance when you come back. I’m just trying to do what I can to stay in the lineup."
This performance, though, was a perfect standard to set for himself moving forward, and that goes beyond his goal, assist and three shots, all of which were scoring chances.
It earned him the honor of the game's No. 1 star and, of course, the victory helmet:
Way to battle 🤘 pic.twitter.com/63fqXMuKUk
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) December 2, 2022
"Well, I just think he’s trying to play the game the right way," Mike Sullivan told me when I asked what he saw from Kapanen throughout the game, "he’s trying to leverage his speed as best he can, he was winning puck battles. I thought his wall play was pretty good. A lot of those things add up to winning hockey. Kappy’s so capable in all those aspects."
Leading up to his goal, he did some great work on the forecheck to hound the puck carrier in the corner before dishing a backhand pass to the point. As the Golden Knights' coverage shaded to the other side of the ice, Kapanen essentially got lost behind them and made his way to net unmarked, allowing him to capitalize on a brilliant setup from Brock McGinn.
"Obviously, we’re thrilled for him that he got rewarded tonight on the scoresheet," Sullivan said. "He got a huge goal for us, I think it was the game-winner, if I’m not mistaken. We’re asking him to go to the net, and he’s inside the dots and he’s at the net. We’re obviously thrilled that he got rewarded, but I thought he played a solid game. It wasn’t just the fact that he scored, I thought his speed was noticeable. It was noticeable off the rush, it was noticeable on the forecheck, and that’s what he’s capable of."
As Sullivan said, Kapanen's more than capable of doing all of the things that brought him success in this one. It's just that the consistency hasn't been there pretty much all season. Earlier in the season, he'd retrieve a puck on the forecheck and make a nice pass, only to have a controller-disconnect moment in which he would take himself out of the play, or perhaps more frustrating, not take the ice or play right in front of him that was begging to be taken advantage of.
It seems as though some time in the press box might have helped clear things up for Kapanen, at least a bit, because he's been much more assertive in the past two games. His six shots on goal in those two games matches his total in the seven games before that.
Kapanen's not the kind of player you roster to go out and play a grindy kind of game, but at the same time, it's essential for him to bring those elements in order to capture the offensive component of his game. It's possible that he's ready to put it all together and be an impactful third-liner, even if he doesn't reach the potential that many hoped he could achieve.
On the other side of the coin, Kapanen broke out of a similar slump last season with a hat trick at home against the Wild, only for several more lengthy slumps to follow the rest of the season.
So where does Kapanen go from here?
"Forward," he said.
