After Kasperi Kapanen was demoted to the fourth line then benched for a good portion of the Penguins’ previous game on Saturday, coach Mike Sullivan did not want to get into the particulars that led to Kapanen’s limited deployment.
“(Kapanen) and I had a conversation,” Sullivan said on Monday, “and I’d rather that stay between (Kapanen) and I.”
After Kapanen led the Penguins to a hard-fought 3-2 comeback overtime win against the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena in Washington on Tuesday, Sullivan was far more verbose when asked about the dynamic scoring winger.
After all, it’s much easier to talk about a player when he scores in overtime and helps set up a game-tying goal.
“I thought it was one of (Kapanen’s) best games as a Penguin,” Sullivan said via video conference after the game. “He was much more involved in the forecheck. He stayed engaged in the offensive zone with his linemates. His speed was more evident and obviously, the goal he scored, you can see how capable of a goal scorer he is. With the speed that he has and that scoring touch, we think he can be a real important player for us.”
Kapanen, who was reunited on the top line with Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel, appeared to appreciate Sullivan’s straight talk.
“Everybody sees how I played,” Kapanen said. “I see it too. I feel it. It wasn’t good enough. I wasn’t as engaged as I wanted to be and should have been. So it was a good time to have a talk.”
The game did extract a heavy toll for the Penguins, however. Second-line left winger Jason Zucker left the game at 10:03 of the third period with an undisclosed injury.
In defending a shot by Capitals defenseman Nick Jensen, Zucker tripped and tumbled into the boards in front of his own bench with his left leg pinned behind most of his body. Zucker laid on the ice for several minutes and required assistance in order to retreat to the dressing room.
Sullivan did not provide an update on Zucker’s status following the game.
The Penguins took the first lead on a power-play goal 6:41 into regulation off a deflection from forward Evgeni Malkin for his fourth goal of the season.
Things were tied 1-1 at 4:38 of the second period when Capitals forward Richard Panik zoomed up the right wing past Malkin and Penguins defenseman Mike Matheson then tucked a forehand shot past goaltender Tristan Jarry’s right skate for his second goal.
At 13:18 of the second, ex-Penguins forward Conor Sheary gripped and ripped a wrister from the Penguins’ right circle for his fifth goal of the season to give the Capitals a brief lead, 2-1.
Only 22 seconds later, the Penguins tied the game, 2-2. Shielding a puck from Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov in the offensive zone’s high slot, Kapanen fed a pass to the right point for defenseman John Marino, who lifted another shot-pass wide on the near side. Guentzel deflected the puck with the shaft of his stick past goaltender Vitek Vanecek on the far side.
“Just kind of waiting for a shooting lane to open up and wait for (Guentzel) to get into a good spot so he can tip it,” Marino said. “I knew he was coming to the net, so you want to give him enough time to make a play. He made a great play.”
Following a scoreless third period, the Penguins claimed victory at 1:43 of overtime. Penguins forward Teddy Blueger claimed a loose puck on his own left wall and head-manned a two-on-one rush with Kapanen against Orlov. Gaining the offensive zone on the right wing, Blueger drew in Orlov and fed a pass to the left circle for a wide-open Kapanen, who whacked a one-timer past Vanecek’s right leg on the near side for his third goal.
Jarry made 20 saves to earn the victory while Kapanen appeared to earn back some trust.
“(Sullivan) was trying to help me out as much as he can to push me forward into becoming a better player,” Kapanen said. “It was a good time to have that talk.”
Seth Rorabaugh is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Seth by email at [email protected] or via Twitter .
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