In August, the Pittsburgh Penguins acquired Kasperi Kapanen from the Toronto Maple Leafs in the hope that he would be the missing piece in their puzzle as a first-rate right winger with Sidney Crosby. Former GM Jim Rutherford paid the price that other GMs were unwilling to pay for Kapanen, but the former GM was unable to play with Crosby until the 15th game of the season.
In the third period of the 16th game, Kapanen was relegated to the fourth row and eliminated in the Penguins’ 3-2 victory over the New York Islanders.
The Penguins’ head coach Mike Sullivan did not give much importance to the bench when asked, but he also did not shy away from the reasons.
“I was trying to find guys who would bring them tonight, who were competing a lot and giving us the best chance of winning,” said Sullivan. “And some nights, these things are going to happen.”
On a night when it seemed that most of the Penguins’ players were out of the game, Kapanen was the highest profile player who collected shrapnel. His offensive production has been dropping since the beginning of his career in the Penguins, which was delayed for a few weeks because the bureaucracy delayed his trip to the United States.
“… I didn’t think Kappy had his game (Saturday), so I was trying to find guys who would give us the opportunity to win,” said Sullivan bluntly.
Sliding statistics from Kasperi Kapanen
In fact, a quick check of Kapanen’s statistics line at NaturalStatTrick.com shows that he is falling below career standards and well below what can be expected of a player with his skill. And the Pittsburgh Penguins gave up on a first round draw for him. They expected a little more than the career standards for the player who was bottoming out with the Toronto Maples Leafs, who have scored 44 and 36 points in the past two seasons, respectively.
Kapanen has seven points (2g, 5a) in 13 games that are in line with previous seasons, but more gifts than takeaways (7-3). He has more hits received than data (17-13). He has not drawn a penalty this season. In 13 games, he has only four chances to score a high-risk goal, despite playing with the talented centers Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby.
Sullivan tried to light his lineup on Thursday night, moving the incandescent Bryan Rust back to Evgeni Malkin’s line. Malkin is still looking for his pace this season, but Rust has been dynamic with 15 points (6g, 9th) in 16 games.
Sullivan also hoped to awaken Kapanen, who has only had two assists in his last five games.
That number has now dropped to an assist in his last five games. He played just 11:42 am on Saturday, which is the lowest total since his first game this season, when coaches managed his time on the ice because he was unable to attend the training ground.
Brandon Tanev had the opportunity to play with Crosby and Jake Guentzel in the third period, although the opportunity did not come much. Zach Aston-Reese also took several turns alongside Evgeni Malkin while Sullivan shuffled and shuffled the lines starting in the second period.
It also looked like Sullivan skipped Guentzel for a few cycles, but he ended up playing for more than 19 minutes. Kasperi Kapanen did not regain his place and played just 19 seconds in the third period.
Earlier this month, Columbus Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella cast star winger Patrik Laine on the bench because Tortorella didn’t like how Laine handled an assistant coach. There were no lasting effects, and Laine responded with points in four straight games.
The Pittsburgh Penguins have won four of their last five games, despite some underperforming performances. Sullivan grew tired of the Penguins ‘individual fights, and an attacker from the top six watched the rest of the Penguins’ 3-2 win.
Sullivan shortened his bank in the third period. Fourth row pivot Mark Jankowski played only two rounds in the third period. Rookie winger Drew O’Connor suffered a similar fate, and defender PO Joseph did not play in the final nine minutes.
