On the final day of November, following a victory against Tampa Bay, the Pittsburgh Penguins had reason to add a new page into their franchise history book.
The occasion was Tristan Jarry’s empty-netter, the first goal scored by a Penguins goalie dating back to the club’s launch in 1967 and only the 17th all-time in NHL history.
Now, on the heels of a 4-3 shootout win in Montreal Wednesday night, another section of the Penguins’ historical account will need amending.
Jansen Harkins’ game-winning goal in the 12th round Wednesday made it the longest shootout in Penguins history, surpassing a nine-round affair Nov. 14, 2005, that resulted in a 3-2 loss to the Islanders, per Penguins historian Bob Grove, who posted the nugget on X.
Grove also uncovered that Harkins became the 19th player to score a shootout goal in his first attempt with the Penguins (13-12-3).
The previous longest SO in Pens' history was 11/14/05 v. NYI (9 rounds, 2-3 loss).
— Bob Grove (@bobgrove91) December 14, 2023
Harkins is 19th player in Pens' history to score on first SO attempt w/ team, and 7th to score when that first shot could win GP. Others:
— Bob Grove (@bobgrove91) December 14, 2023
Dupuis, 3/28/10 v Tor
Guentzel, 12/10/18 at NYI
Letang, 12/6/07 at Calg
Letestu, 11/6/10 at Pho
Neal, 3/21/11 at Det
Sutter, 12/13/18 at NYR
Looking across the league, the 12-round shootout Wednesday also marked the longest in the NHL since Nov. 22, 2016, when the Islanders beat Anaheim, 3-2, in 14 rounds.
The NHL record for longest shootout is 20 rounds, which transpired on Dec. 16, 2014, between the Washington Capitals and Florida Panthers.
Suffice it to say that Harkins was not anywhere near the top of coach Mike Sullivan’s preferred list of shootout candidates when the preceding five-minute overtime period ended without a game-winning goal for either club.
JANSEN HARKINS, SHOOTOUT HERO! pic.twitter.com/oM5LtHNRgJ
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) December 14, 2023
Sullivan’s selections to partake in the standard three-round shootout were predictable enough: defenseman Kris Letang led things off, scoring on Montreal’s Sam Montembeault, followed by Sidney Crosby, who also scored.
The Canadiens also converted on their first two shootout tries, with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield beating Alex Nedeljkovic.
But after four straight goals scored, the next four rounds of Penguins and Canadiens shot attempts were stopped, with Sullivan using Jake Guentzel, Evgeni Malkin, Reilly Smith and Erik Karlsson.
Then, Montreal’s Sean Monahan found the back of the net in the seventh round, only to be answered, with the game on the line, by Lars Eller.
Per the NHL rulebook, skaters are not permitted to shoot twice until every eligible skater (excluding goalies and anyone serving a 10-minute misconduct or game misconduct) has gone once.
Another long drought followed Eller’s goal, with the Penguins’ Jeff Carter, Valtteri Puustinen, Radim Zohorna and Vinnie Hinostroza all coming up empty.
At that point, Sullivan was running out of viable options before reverting back to the top of his shootout lineup, with only forwards Drew O’Connor, Jonathan Gruden and Harkins plus blueliners John Ludvig, Marcus Pettersson, P.O Joseph and Ryan Graves remaining as options.
Of that bunch, Sullivan went with Harkins for the 12th round of the shootout, and the 26-year-old did not disappoint, launching a wrister from 18 feet that snuck under the right arm of Montembeault.
“Honestly, (I) was just hoping everyone would score before me,” Harkins told reporters in Montreal following the game. “(I had) a lot of (mental) reps, kind of from my sight line, so I just tried to use that when I went in from watching so many.”
The triumphant moment created a bit of cruel irony for Harkins, as shootout goals do not get recorded on the individual stat sheets.
Harkins thus remains scoreless (and pointless) through 13 games played with the Penguins this season.
While he may still not have a point, his shootout goal Wednesday helped his club earn two.
