Penguins rally to beat Golden Knights as Kasperi Kapanen nets winner

The Pittsburgh Penguins won’t replace Kris Letang.

There just aren’t any in-house options to account for the profusion of attributes the six-time All-Star defenseman provides — on and off the ice — for however long he is sidelined while convalescing from the second stroke of his remarkable NHL career.

But they still have to play games. Life in the NHL continues, even if Letang isn’t a part of it for the time being.

“He’s obviously in our thoughts,” said Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, one of Letang’s closest companions on the team. “We know it’s not an easy situation. Just tried to pull together and get a win for him.”

Mission accomplished.

Thanks to a rare power-play score and an even rarer goal by beleaguered forward Kasperi Kapanen in the third period, the Penguins clawed out a 4-3 comeback home win against the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday at PPG Paints Arena.

In their second game since Letang took ill on Monday, the Penguins showed they are capable of piecing together an impressive — though imperfect — team-wide effort in his absence.

“Not easy to replace all those minutes and all those situations that he plays in,” Crosby said. “(And) our power play is still something to continue to work on. But got a big goal there. Nice to get that one.

“Overall, we played a pretty solid game.”

The first period was about as solid as a cup of expired yogurt for the Penguins as they allowed the Golden Knights to claim a two-goal lead.

It took the visitors all of 3:59 into regulation to get on the scoreboard. Golden Knights defenseman Alec Martinez chased down a loose puck on the left half wall of the offensive zone and chucked a wrister towards the cage that struck Golden Knights forward Mark Stone’s left skate and bounced to the right of the crease. Stone settled the puck in the right circle and snapped a pass to the left side of the crease for linemate Jack Eichel, who fanned a bit on a forehand shot but made enough contact to push it past a poke check attempt by Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin as well as goaltender Tristan Jarry’s right skate on the near side for his 12th goal of the season. Stone and Martinez had assists.

A power-play goal made it a 2-0 contest late in the first period at the 17:59 mark. From the left half wall of the offensive zone, former Penguins forward Phil Kessel snapped a cross-ice pass to the right circle for Golden Knights forward Reilly Smith. Displaying ample patience, Smith waited for an opening then lifted a rising wrister over Jarry’s glove on the near side that clunked off the crossbar and hit twine for his 11th goal. Kessel and forward William Karlsson claimed assists.

The score snapped an eight-game streak for the Penguins’ penalty killers without allowing an opposing power-play goal. They were 19 for 19 over that span.

Forward Brock McGinn got the Penguins on the scoreboard 2:23 into the second period with his seventh goal. Emerging from a puck battle behind the Golden Knights’ net, McGinn skated toward the right circle, turned to his left and whipped a shot toward the slot. Battling for position above the crease with Penguins forward Jeff Carter, Golden Knights defenseman Ben Hutton allowed the puck to strike his left thigh and bounce past goaltender Logan Thompson’s glove. Assists went to Kapanen and Carter.

Things were tied 2-2 at 13:07 of the second. Hounding Golden Knights defenseman Nicolas Hague into a turnover in Vegas’ left corner, Crosby backhanded a pass to the left circle for linemate Jake Guentzel. From there, Guentzel one-touched a forehand feed to the right of the crease where Penguins forward Rickard Rakell re-directed a forehand shot past Thompson’s left skate for his 10th goal. Guentzel and Crosby netted assists.

“Hard on the puck, he creates a turnover and knocks the puck out of the air,” Guentzel said of Crosby’s tenacity on the sequence. “I just tried to get open, and (Rakell) made a nice play to get open backdoor. Just a great play all around.”

Things were not great for the Penguins’ penalty killers on the evening as they allowed another goal 1:26 into the third period.

From the center point of the offensive zone, Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore surveyed for a shooting lane and snapped off a wrister through a narrow avenue down the slot. Battling Stone above the blue paint, Penguins defenseman Jan Rutta tumbled to the ice as the puck appeared to glance off of his left leg and deflect by Jarry’s glove. Theodore was credited with his fourth goal off assists from forward Chandler Stephenson and Eichel.

The Penguins’ beleaguered power play tied the game again, 3-3, with a four-on-three score at 7:33 of the third.

Faking a slapper from the high slot of the offensive zone, Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin pulled down his stick and then maneuvered to the top of the left circle. From there, he dished a cross-ice pass to the right circle, where Guentzel swiped a one-timer past Thompson’s left shoulder on the near side for his 12th goal. Malkin and defenseman Jeff Petry registered assists.

That score snapped a streak of six consecutive games without a power-play goal and was the team’s first score with the man advantage in 19 attempts.

“Hopefully, we just needed one to go in and they’ll keep coming now,” Guentzel said. “Sometimes, you press a little bit, but I think for us, we’ve just to make simple plays and not force anything. Hopefully, that can keep coming.”

The game-winner came from an unlikely source.

Accepting a pass at the left point of the offensive zone, Dumoulin lobbed a wrister that went wide of the net on the near side. McGinn beat Golden Knights defenseman Zach Whitecloud to the puck on the end boards then fed a pass to the right of the cage where Kapanen, a healthy scratch throughout most of November, jabbed a forehand shot past Thompson’s blocker on the near side for his second goal. McGinn and Dumoulin had assists.

Kapanen, who had been a healthy scratch for seven consecutive games between Nov. 15-26, celebrated in a fashion that suggested he was more relieved than excited to finally contribute in such a substantial fashion.

“There isn’t a guy in this league that wants to be ‘healthied,’” Kapanen said. “I always want to compete with the guys. It’s a battle out there. … You want to work hard and be ready for getting a chance when you come back. Just trying to do what I can to stay in the lineup.”

Once in the lead, the most important component to the Penguins’ lineup — or any team’s lineup — secured victory. Jarry stopped the final 12 shots he faced in regulation to give his team a resolute win.

“He played hard,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said of Jarry. “He made some big saves down the stretch. Obviously, Vegas pushed hard there at the end. Tristan was competing hard. He was fighting hard to find the puck.”

On Thursday, the Penguins battled hard to claim a triumph that was motivated, in part, by Letang’s ordeal.

“It’s just understood,” Crosby said. “It’s not something that really needs to be talked about that much. You see the way guys compete and rally. I like to think we have a lot of effort every night. But it seemed like it was a little bit more urgency and desperation tonight.”

Notes:

• Dumoulin served as an alternate captain for the second consecutive game in Letang’s absence.

Dumoulin took his first penalty of the season at 10:29 of the second period. That leaves forward Ryan Poehling as the only member of the Penguins who has appeared in all 24 of the team’s games without taking a penalty.

• Penguins forward Danton Heinen was a healthy scratch for the second consecutive game.

• Dumoulin (119 points) surpassed forward Orest Kindrachuk (118) for 75th place on the franchise’s career scoring list.

• Thursday’s crowd was a new season-low for the team at 15,895. Tuesday’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes was the previous low at 15,942.

• The Golden Knights remain one of three active franchises the Penguins have never recorded a shutout against. The Minnesota Wild and Seattle Kraken are the others.