Alex Galchenyuk looked different on Friday night in Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena.

Sure, he shaved away that off-color Brillo pad of a beard he had been growing since the summer in order to “freshen up a little bit.” But there was a far more significant reason his appearance was so divergent.

He celebrated a goal.

One he scored.

During the first period of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 5-2 road win against the Nashville Predators, Penguins forward Dominik Kahun fed a pass off the left half wall to defenseman John Marino at the left point. Marino turned and distributed it to right point, where defenseman Marcus Pettersson teed up a one-timer. Goaltender Pekka Rinne made the initial save but allowed a rebound that bounced off of Galchenyuk’s right skate. Parked right above the crease and battling furiously for position with Predators defenseman Mattias Ekholm, Galchenyuk was able to jab the puck through Rinne’s five hole just as a power-play opportunity had expired.

(Video courtesy NHL)

It wasn’t a pretty, dazzling deke or a sinister snipe to the top shelf on the far side one might expect from a player as skilled as Galchenyuk, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2012 draft.

To be blunt, it was a garbage goal.

Galchenyuk gladly accepted it, especially considering it was only his third goal of the season.

“Of course everyone wants to make the highlight goals and score them,” Galchenyuk said. “But goals like this win the game. It’s harder and harder to get a goal. You need to clean the garbage sometimes.”

To be clear, he’ll still take the highlight goals. Such was the case in Saturday’s 6-4 victory against the Predators at PPG Paints Arena when he scored for the fourth time this season.

During the second period, Marino led a rush up the right wing into the offensive zone with the second power-play unit. Gaining the blue line on the right wing, Marino pushed the puck towards the corner and waited for Galchenyuk to sneak his way from the opposite wing to the slot. Marino fed a pass to Galchenyuk, who snapped a wrister past a kneeling Ekholm and behind Rinne’s blocker.

(Video courtesy NHL)

Given his struggles to produce in his first season with the Penguins, he’s not concerned with the aesthetics of his scoring exploits.

“Any goal in this league feels good, man,” Galchenyuk said.

Forward Bryan Rust, himself no stranger to goal-scoring slumps, provided perspective.

“Obviously, things weren’t going the right way for a while,” Rust said. “I’ve been there. He’s just been working hard. To have him score and to keep that going, it just makes us that much more dangerous.”

It’s fair to wonder what Galchenyuk’s role with the team will be once forwards Sidney Crosby and Nick Bjugstad return to the lineup after recovering from core muscle injuries (while also making the considerably naive assumption this team won’t experience further maladies among its forwards or any position).

Crosby appears close to returning as soon as this week, and Bjugstad has just begun to skate.

For the time being, Galchenyuk is working on the second line with Kahun and Jared McCann.

“You want to play with those guys,” Galchenyuk said. “They make a lot of plays. They slow down the game a little bit, and they make my life easier out there (by) going out there and being creative.”

Additionally, Galchenyuk has inhabited a net-front role on the second power-play group. Playing above the blue paint in such a fashion isn’t an endeavor he’s employed with great regularity during his eight NHL seasons.

“Not too much, to be honest with you,” he said. “But it’s always nice to add something to your skillset. That’s where I’m at right now. So I’m trying to get better at that.”

“He’s very capable,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “He’s got a good stick. He’s strong. When you’re trying to help someone find their scoring touch, a good way to do it is to encourage them to go to the net. A lot of goals in this league are scored within three or four feet of the blue paint. It’s an opportunity for Alex to score some goals, to use his skillset in that area of the rink.

“It’s never a bad thing for a player that’s trying to establish his offensive game to just simplify and got to the net. He’s getting rewarded because of it. He’s very capable there, and he’s got a real good stick.”

If the coaching staff opts to demote Galchenyuk within the lineup or even scratch him, that decision won’t be based on desire. He’s been the last player off the ice after practices more than enough times to establish his devotion to his craft.

“He cares so much,” Sullivan said. “When Alex was going through a bit of a struggle early on, it really wasn’t from a lack of effort or a lack of care or a lack of want. It was just a struggle for him. We tried to encourage him to stay with it. We had (assistant coach Mark Recchi) spend a lot of one-on-one time with him on video just to clarify what our expectations are, the details of our team game and adjusting to that. He just keeps working at it.

“I give Alex credit: He just stays with it. We all believe that he’s a better player than he’s shown to this point. We’re just trying to help him get there, that’s all. The fact that he’s scored a couple of goals the last couple of games I think will be a big boost of confidence for him. And should (be). They were two really good goals, important goals for us. And he scored them different ways. That’s what we think Alex is capable of. My hope is that he can build on these two games.”

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