O'Connor's offensive game reaching new heights, scores game-winner vs. Kraken

Drew O'Connor needs to stay in the Penguins' top six even once the team gets healthy at forward.

His performance in Monday's 3-0 win over the Kraken at PPG Paints Arena is the latest example why.

The Penguins' shutout of the Kraken was one of the more complete games they've played this season. After a stretch of games in which the Penguins got off to a slow start, they controlled much of the first period even if they didn't have anything to show for it on the scoreboard. It was O'Connor who finally cracked Kraken goaltender Joey Accord 49 seconds into the second period. 

Bryan Rust carried the puck into the Seattle end and had a backhand, cross-ice pass through Kraken defensemen Brian Dumoulin to O'Connor. O'Connor dropped to one knee and one-timed the puck over the glove of Daccord:

After Sidney Crosby added a goal of his own and then another into an empty net, and Tristan Jarry held on for a 22-save shutout, O'Connor's opening goal stood to be the game-winner. It was the first game-winning goal of his NHL career.

"Those two (Rust and Evgeni Malkin) both made really good plays," O'Connor said. "G gets it over to Rusty and is really patient with it, there wasn't much there. I'm kind of surprised he gets it through. It's a great play by them."

O'Connor said that he didn't have to call for the pass. Rust just knew.

"I was able to look over my shoulder and see Drew coming and make that play," Rust said. "Drew's a real good player. He uses his skating to his advantage, gets in on the forecheck well. And like you saw today, when he gets a chance he can finish."

O'Connor's season is on the rise. With six goals and nine assists in 42 games, he's already surpassed his previous career highs of five goals and six assists in 46 games set last season. Most of that production has come within the last few weeks. In the Penguins' last 11 games dating back to the Dec. 23 game in Ottawa before the Christmas break, O'Connor has four goals and three assists. 

O'Connor is benefitting from that increased ice time and opportunity from being on the second line alongside Malkin, but he's also rising to the occasion. His five shots on goal on Monday led all Penguins players, and was the third time this season he's recorded at least five shots in a game.

"I was just getting opportunities to shoot," O'Connor said of his night. "I thought our line was playing pretty well overall, so I had some opportunities."

The Penguins' second line played well. All of their lines played well. Not a single forward was on the ice for more shots on goal against than they were on the ice for. The Penguins generated 33 shots on goal of their own while being pretty tight defensively. But when O'Connor was on the ice for the 16:48 he was at five on five, the Penguins controlled 75% of the shots on goal (12-4). No other forward was on the ice for a better ratio of shots for vs. against.

Plays like this one, where O'Connor knocked the puck off the stick of Kailer Yamamoto then immediately upended Alex Wennberg with a hip check to force a turnover, surely went a long way toward those possession numbers:

That's nothing new, either. Of the Penguins' regular forwards this season (minimum of 300 minutes played), the top three in terms of on-ice ratios of shot attempts, unblocked shot attempts and shots on goal are all some variation of Crosby, Rust and Jake Guentzel, as expected given the success they had together early on in the season. No. 4 in each of those categories is O'Connor, despite only playing in the top six for almost exactly half of his five-on-five ice time this season.

I asked Mike Sullivan after the game if he thinks O'Connor has another level to his offensive game that he's yet to reach or maybe just starting to reach, and Sullivan thinks he does. And those puck possession abilities that have led to all of those good on-ice results is a big reason why.

"He's playing with a lot more confidence," Sullivan said of O'Connor. "I think he's hanging onto pucks more. I think OC, the strength of his game is just his puck pursuit, he has a good stick. He's got a long reach. He's a rangy guy and he can really skate. I think he brings that puck pursuit game to Geno's line, Rusty excels at it also. So I think as a result, Geno's line is getting more offensive zone time. And they're dragging Geno into the fight, so to speak."

It's not just that O'Connor is hanging onto pucks and helping with possession. He's creating more offense himself.

"His scoring touch has improved, he's hanging onto pucks longer, and he's looking to make plays when they're there," Sullivan said. "That's the game that we want him to play. We don't want him to turn into a high-risk player by any stretch, but when plays are there to be made, he's very capable."

O'Connor seems to be getting more capable by the day, and he doesn't look out of place in his role on the second line. He's certainly making the case to stay there for the long haul.

THE ESSENTIALS

• Boxscore
• Live file
• Scoreboard
• Standings
• Statistics
• Schedule

THE HIGHLIGHTS

THE THREE STARS

As selected at PPG Paints Arena:

1. Tristan Jarry, Penguins G
2. Sidney Crosby, Penguins C
3. Drew O'Connor, Penguins LW

THE IN-GAME INJURIES

• Penguins: Chad Ruhwedel left in the third period after being boarded by Eeli Tolvanen. He didn't return, and Sullivan didn't have an update on him yet after the game.

• Kraken: None

THE LINEUPS

Sullivan’s lines and pairings:

Jake Guentzel - Sidney Crosby - Rickard Rakell
Drew O'Connor - Evgeni Malkin - Bryan Rust
Radim Zohorna - Lars Eller - Valtteri Puustinen
Jansen Harkins - Noel Acciari - Jeff Carter

Marcus Pettersson - Kris Letang
Ryan Graves - Erik Karlsson
P.O Joseph - Chad Ruhwedel

And for Dave Hakstol's Kraken:

Tomas Tatar - Jared McCann - Jordan Eberle
Jaden Schwartz - Alex Wennberg - Brandon Tanev
Eeli Tolvanen - Yanni Gourde - Oliver Bjorkstrand
Ty Kartye - Devin Shore - Kailer Yamamoto

Ryker Evans - Adam Larsson
Jamie Oleksiak - Will Borgen
Brian Dumoulin - Justin Schultz

THE SCHEDULE

The Penguins have a scheduled day off on Tuesday. They'll practice at 11 a.m. in Cranberry on Wednesday then fly out to Las Vegas for the upcoming road trip against the Golden Knights and Coyotes. The game against the Golden Knights isn't until Saturday, but the team is scheduled to practice on Thursday and Friday in Las Vegas first.

THE FEED

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