After trying regular season, Kasperi Kapanen finds his game at perfect time for Penguins

Unlike his game, Kasperi Kapanen’s sense of humor never abandoned him throughout this season.

Told that his coach said he is currently playing his best hockey of 2021-22, Kapanen was as quick with a quip as he is in taking that initial stride through the neutral zone.

“Yeah, I mean, I am happy I showed up at some point this season,” the talented Pittsburgh Penguins winger said. “Better late than never, I guess.”

The Penguins will take it, especially because late is better than early. Kapanen is peaking at the perfect time: in the playoffs.

Kapanen leads the Penguins in plus/minus (plus-4) and his 16 shots on goal are tops for any player not on the first line.

Perhaps most impressive, though, is of all the Penguins players who have appeared in all four games of the first-round series against the New York Rangers, Kapanen is the only one who has not been on the ice for an even-strength goal against.

“I think Kappy is playing his best hockey of the year here in the playoffs,” coach Mike Sullivan said Tuesday after an optional practice at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex. “What he needs to do is sustain it, which means he just needs to stay in the moment. Take each game as it comes, take each shift as it comes, and just play the game the right way: focus on the process, focus on the details, do your job when you don’t have the puck and trust your instincts when you have it.

“And I think that’s what he’s doing.”

The offensive production (no goals two assists) hasn’t been there for Kapanen in this series, which the Penguins lead 3-1 and can close out in Game 5 at 7 p.m. Thursday at Madison Square Garden. But just about every other aspect of Kapanen’s game has.

“He’s getting in on the forecheck, he’s added a physical dimension more consistently, he’s forcing turnovers when he doesn’t have (the puck),” Sullivan said. “When he has it, he’s challenging defensemen with wide speed. He’s got a number of looks just with wide speed and trying to get a step on a defenseman and trying to get a step to the net.

“So he’s utilizing speed both with the puck and without the puck.”

Speed has always been a significant part of Kapanen’s game. A first-round pick of the Penguins for whom the Penguins (after trading him away) again submitted a first-round pick for to reacquire him, Kapanen’s talent is immediately apparent when he is on the ice.

But throughout a season in which he scored in just nine of 79 games, Kapanen’s ice time waned considerably as the season went on. After averaging almost 17 minutes per game before New Year’s Day, Kapanen was deployed for less than 12 ½ minutes per contest in March and April.

Of course, that’s 12 ½ more minutes than he played during a home win against the Vegas Golden Knights on March 11. Kapanen was a healthy scratch that night.

“I’d be lying if I said it didn’t (tick) me off or upset me,” Kapanen said Tuesday. “You always want to play every game, and it was just a bit of a struggle all year. But that’s in the past, and these last four games I feel like I have gotten back in my groove and found some confidence, and I think it shows.”

Kapanen has re-established chemistry with second-line center Evgeni Malkin, playing on the right wing while Danton Heinen mans the left side.

“He’s playing really well,” assistant captain Kris Letang said of Kapanen. “He plays with tons of speed and creates so much for the players around him.

“In the playoffs, you need a short memory. If you don’t have a good game or a good shift, you have to turn the page and go on to the next one. I think it’s key for a guy like Kappy who wants to do well. He has to bring intensity every shift he plays.”

Keep up with the Pittsburgh Penguins all season long.