After Friday night’s 4-0 victory over the Winnipeg Jets, Pittsburgh Penguins winger Dominik Simon said he’s a firm believer that good things happen when a player puts pucks on net.

Sometimes, they don’t even need to go all the way to the back of the net for good things to happen.

Simon scored a critical goal late in the second period on a play where it looked to all the world like Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck had frustrated him with a spectacular save.

Simon had taken a pass from linemate Evgeni Malkin and backhanded a shot that skimmed off the post and into Hellebuyck’s glove.

Simon didn’t see the end result of his shot, as he spun away from the net as soon as he took it. When he saw a replay on the bench, he realized something might be up.

He thought Hellebuyck’s glove might have completely crossed the goal line with the puck inside, which would count as a goal. A video review affirmed Simon’s suspicion.

With that, he had scored in back-to-back games after going his previous 16 games without a goal.

“It’s nice to score after a while,” Simon said.

A scoring surge for Simon could be important for the Penguins for a couple of reasons.

First, it could help get the team’s second line going as Malkin seems to be emerging from a long slump. He has two goals and six points in his last five games.

“It feels better every game we play together, at least to me. I hope it’s the same to these guys,” Simon said. “It’s great to play with them. (Patric Hornqvist) is a warrior. He wins so many pucks. Geno, I don’t have to say anything. I’m really glad to play with them.”

Second, it could give the Penguins the kind of secondary scoring from young players that they became accustomed to during their most recent championship seasons.

“He’s a real good playmaker,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “He’s good in the battle areas, and we believe he has the ability to finish. He’s starting to score a few goals. It should be great for his confidence. We really like how Geno’s line is tracking right now, and so that really makes us more difficult to play against.”

Jonathan Bombulie is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jonathan at jbombulie@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BombulieTrib.

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)