Rickard Rackell will likely not justify or destroy the Penguins’ hopes of winning the Stanley Cup.
Acquired in Monday’s trade, the All-Star forward is an addition to a hierarchy that has been ingrained in the organization for more than 15 years.
Rackell’s combination of skill and speed is expected to complement what franchise pillars such as forwards Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin and defenseman Chris Letang already provide.
“We think he can play with our guys,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “That was one of the biggest things we talked about leading up to this is he has a certain set of skills that we think complement each other.”
There were many compliments on the Penguins’ performance in Rackelle’s debut as they thrashed the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-1 at the PPG Paints Arena. Several of their regulars led the Penguins to one of the most convincing wins of the season.
Raquelle joined the lineup. He mainly worked on the third line, he spent 14:08 on the ice in 17 shifts and recorded two shots from three attempts. He even went to one faceoff and won it.
The day after the Penguins acquired him in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks, Ruckell didn’t physically arrive in Pittsburgh until Tuesday morning. In addition, he missed three games with the Ducks due to injury before being traded. So Sullivan did his best not to overburden his new winger.
“I think he put on a good game,” Sullivan said. “These were difficult circumstances. Arrives on a red-eyed (flight), did not get much sleep, did not rest much, travels through the country. It’s a difficult challenge.”
The Blue Jackets set themselves a challenge at the start of this competition and took an 8:37 lead in regulation time with a powerplay score. From the right moment, Blue Jackets defenseman Zak Werensky turned the moment into the net. Goaltender Tristan Jarry initially stopped the shot, but let the rebound seep out behind him in the blue paint, and Blue Jackets forward Gustav Nyquist, chasing the crease, crashed and drove the puck into the cage with a backhander, scoring his 16th goal of the season. . Werenski and forward Jakub Voracek had assists.
After that, it was all for the Penguins thanks to a four-goal explosion in the second period.
First, at around 2:40, striker Radim Zohorna scored his second goal. After grabbing a loose puck in the Blue Jackets’ top slot, Penguins defenseman Chad Ruwedel rushed to the left circle and put his brush into the net, which was saved by goaltender Joonas Korpisalo. Penguins forward Brian Boyle, who was battling Blue Jackets defenseman Dan Kukan over the crease, held the puck with a right hand on goal that Korpsicalo deflected. The ensuing rebound came to the front of the blue paint, where Zohorna leaned over and landed a right hand. Boyle and Ruwedel scored assists.
The Penguins took the lead just 36 seconds later. From the bottom left flank, Penguins forward Jake Gentzel forced a forward pass to net his linemate Evan Rodriguez, who was tangled up with Blue Jackets defenseman Jake Bean. After the puck bounced off Rodriguez’s right skate, Crosby took the puck between the hashmarks, maneuvered towards the left circle and made a tricky pass to the right of the crease to Genzel, who reached the 30-goal mark with a flick of the wrist. second time in his career. Assists went to Crosby and Rodriguez.
“The fact that I was able to score 30 goals in this league is something special,” Genzel said. “It’s hard to score goals. I’m very lucky to play with really good players. This makes it easy. It’s a cool number and I hope they keep showing up.”
The offense continued for the Penguins as forward Brian Rast made it 3-1 at the 7:27 mark for the 21st goal. After receiving a high pass from Malkin in the neutral zone, Rust entered the blue line of attack, broke free from under the stick of Blue Jackets forward Cole Sillinger and attacked the net from the left circle. With Korpisalo deep in the cage, Rust skimmed through the blue paint and landed a right shot wide of the keeper’s left skate. Malkin and defender Brian Dumoulin scored assists.
“It was an amazing target, just the hands he had there,” Gentzel said when asked by Rust to rate the display. “The way he scores goals now shows that he has come a long way. … This is a special purpose.”
Genzel’s dreadful goal put the Penguins on a field goal at 2:06 p.m. Having received the attacking zone on the right flank, Crosby passed through the zone to defenseman Mike Matheson, who passed it back to Crosby in the right circle. Controlling the puck with his right skate, Crosby hurried a forehand that was partially blocked by Verensky’s stick. The puck slid down Genzel’s left glove and bounced clumsily off the far post into a cage. Crosby and Matheson were credited with assists.
Malkin entered the game by hitting a five-on-three powerplay at 8:54 of the third period. After Crosby won a tie in the left circle of the attacking zone against Blue Jackets forward Sean Kuraly, Rust controlled the puck at the near wall and passed to the right circle to Malkin, who grabbed and wrenched his wrist past the blocker Korpisalo at the far. sides for their 12th goal. Rust and Crosby provided assists.
Jarry made 26 saves on 27 shots, his record improved to 32-12-6 in his 50th game of the season, and Rackell took the win in his first game with his new team.
“A lot has happened in the last 24 hours,” Rackell said. “But it was amazing. I just came here, the warm welcome I got from the whole organization with the players, the staff, it was great. It was probably best to rip off the band-aid and start playing right away. I had a lot of fun. The legs (were not) the best I’ve felt.
“But it was great to just get back to business and be there for the guys and win that game.”
Notes:
• Along with Rackell, a 10-year veteran, rookie Zohorna joined the team, changing his jersey number to 63 and allowing Rackell to take his usual 67.
• Zohorna became the second player in franchise history to wear the number 63. The first was forward Tim Wallace.
• Rackell became the fourth player to wear number 67 for the franchise. He was preceded by defender Alex Goligoski, forwards Paul Bissonnette and Zoorn.
• Rust (262 points) overtook striker Robert Lang (261) for 32nd place on the club’s top scorers list.
• Dumoulin (113 points) overtook striker Sean McEachern (112) for 78th place on the club’s top scorers list.
• Malkin (1,131) passed former St. Louis Blues and Detroit Red Wings forward Bernie Federko (1,130) for 59th on the NHL’s all-time scorers list.
• Penguins forward Brock McGinn (presumably right-hander) and defenseman Mark Friedman (healthy) sustained scratches.
Watch out for penguins all season.
Seth Rorabo is a staff writer for the Tribune-Review. You can reach Seth at [email protected] or via Twitter. .