Penguins' John Ludvig nets 1st NHL goal vs. Florida, his former team

Wednesday night’s game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Florida Panthers at PPG Paints Arena left close to zero room for any celebration by the home team, which fell 5-2 and at one point trailed 4-0 in the second period.

After an uneventful first 25 minutes of play, the Panthers busted the game open in the opening stages of the second period, scoring four goals in 8 minutes, 34 seconds to take a commanding lead that they never came close to relinquishing.

Winger Jake Guentzel exited the game with about 12 minutes left in regulation, not to return, while the Penguins (23-20-7) lost their third straight game.

However, in the midst of a game the Penguins would otherwise do well to forget was a notable positive moment: rookie defenseman John Ludvig scoring his first NHL goal.

The 23-year-old found the back of the net in the third period, launching a wrister that beat Florida’s Sergei Bobrovsky on a feed from Drew O’Connor.

Rickard Rakell established a presence in front of the net right as Ludvig pulled the trigger, and Lars Eller notched the secondary assist on the goal.

“It was a great play,” said coach Mike Sullivan. “It was a really good play by (Ludvig) to jump into the rush, and it was a great play by (Rakell) to draw them to the net and open up the lane. It was a real nice play all around — good shot by (Ludvig).”

Added Ludvig: “(O’Connor) made a perfect pass over to me, I shot it and luckily it went in.”

This goal will always be special for the Ludvig family ????

One NHL goal and counting for John Ludvig! pic.twitter.com/AEyi8XaMdz

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) February 15, 2024

Ludvig’s score was insufficient to dig the Penguins out of a four-goal hole late in the game, but it was memorable nonetheless, especially given the Panthers were the team that drafted him in the third round in 2019.

Scoring against his former team was a nice culmination of Ludvig’s efforts to establish himself as an NHLer, to say nothing of the injury-related adversity he has navigated this season.

Picked up off waivers from Florida on Oct. 9, Ludvig made his NHL debut Oct. 24 against the Dallas Stars but played just 5:29 before suffering a concussion that sidelined him for about a month, leading to placement on long-term injured reserve.

Ludvig returned in late November and was a fixture on the Penguins blue line through the end of December.

However, on New Year’s Eve, during a fight with the New York Islanders’ Matt Martin, the 6-foot-1, 213-pound Ludvig was injured again, requiring a second stint on long-term injured reserve. He missed 13 games before returning Saturday.

Offensive production never has been a trademark of Ludvig’s game.

In 74 career AHL games, Ludvig has five goals.

By comparison, through only 20 NHL games, he has already fought four times, bringing a physical presence to the Penguins lineup.

Ludvig allowed himself, however briefly, to celebrate his first NHL goal after Wednesday’s loss.

But with his club’s next game coming Thursday in Chicago, Ludvig and the Penguins are quickly back to business and in growing need of points.

“It’s cool to get the first one,” Ludvig said of his goal. “I’m just focused on getting wins right now. I’m not much of a goal-scorer anyways, so it’s not a big deal to me. But the main focus here is we’ve just got to find a way to win.”