Alex Galchenyuk breaks through in Penguins' OT win over Flames
For weeks Alex Galchenyuk worked.
As his more established and productive teammates were economic with their work at practice and usually spent no more than a handful of minutes on the ice past the time scheduled by coaches, Galchenyuk remained on rinks in Cranberry, downtown Pittsburgh, Dallas and Newark, N.J.
Prior to Monday’s 3-2 overtime win against the Calgary Flames at PPG Paints Arena, the former 30 goal-scorer, who was selected No. 3 overall in the 2012 draft, had yet to score a goal with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
He finally broke through that hideous slump by scoring the team’s first goal of the contest while also setting up its second.
“We’re obviously thrilled for him,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “To get that first one, I think is a bit of relief for him. It’s not a case of a lack of effort with Alex. He works extremely hard. He’s one of our hardest-working guys in practice. He puts a lot of pressure on himself to help us win.
“Not only did he score, though. I thought he had a good game. He had just a good strong overall game for us.”
There were immense expectations of Galchenyuk entering the season, especially because he was the primary return on an offseason transaction that jettisoned popular two-time Stanley Cup champion Phil Kessel to the Arizona Coyotes.
He had failed to live up to them, even by the most forgiving of evaluations.
He realized it.
“Every season, you kind of go through slumps,” Galchenyuk said. “Last year, I went 17 games. This time was harder because you want to get the first one with the new team. Happy to get it over with.”
After the Flames took a 1-0 lead at 7 minutes, 34 seconds with a goal by forward Dillon Dube, the Penguins tied the score at the 11:48 mark when Galchenyuk struck in the dying seconds of a power-play opportunity.
After gaining the offensive zone at the center point, Penguins forward Jared McCann flicked a backhand pass through Flames forward Derek Ryan to Penguins forward Dominik Kahun on the left wing. Kahun hustled into the left circle and lifted a wrister on net that was rejected by goaltender David Rittich. A rebound caromed to the slot, where McCann overskated it but prevented Flames defenseman T.J. Brodie from getting a stick on it. That allowed Galchenyuk to claim it and swat a quick one-timer under Rittich’s left leg.
“When it went across the goal line, it was emotions,” said Galchenyuk, who howled in elation after the score. “It was a great feeling. Even a better that we got the win, of course.”
“I think I head butted him or something like that,” McCann said of the passionate but clumsy celebration. “Almost knocked his teeth out.”
The Penguins took 2-1 lead at 7:13 of the second period. After forward Brandon Tanev outworked Flames defenseman Noah Hanifin for a puck in the left corner, Galchenyuk claimed it on the half wall and fed a pass to McCann above the left circle. As the Flames provided McCann with an acre of ice and a calendar of time to operate with, McCann ripped a wrister that glanced off of Andersson’s left leg and sailed past Rittich’s glove. It was McCann’s ninth goal of the season.
“He made an amazing play,” McCann said of Galchenyuk’s pass. “He fond me in the middle of the ice there, and I was just trying to get the puck on net.”
Calgary tied the score at 15:09 of the second when forward Sean Monahan fired a wrister from the slot past scrambling goaltender Tristan Jarry, who finished with 32 saves.
After a scoreless third, forward Jake Guentzel sniped a wrister from the left circle past Rittich at 4:04 of overtime for a victory that required plenty of extra work.
Much like Galchenyuk’s first goal.
“That’s what a professional does,” McCann said. “It just goes to show how professional he is. How much he really wanted that first one.
“He’s been grinding, and it went in.”
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.
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