Patric Hornqvist, 4th line lead Penguins past Red Wings
Patric Hornqvist has quite a resume.
A two-time Stanley Cup winner, he has reached the 20-goal mark eight times in his career.
Also, he makes a healthy $5.3 million per season.
Having Hornqvist play on a fourth line is akin to Pablo Picasso painting your garage. Or, at least Jackson Pollock.
Yet, that’s where Hornqvist has been for the better part of a week since the Feb. 10 arrival of forward Jason Zucker via trade.
That deployment proved to be critical Sunday as Hornqvist collected three points in a 5-1 rout of the rebuilding Detroit Red Wings at PPG Paints Arena.
Hornqvist scored a goal with the fourth line and another as a replacement for forward Zach Aston-Reese on the third line. Aston-Reese left the game at 8 minutes, 46 seconds of the second period because of an undisclosed injury.
Having largely served as a top-six forward throughout his career, Hornqvist isn’t enamored with bottom-six duties. But he accepts them with the same fervor that has defined his rambunctious existence as an NHLer.
“Patric and I talked about it,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “He’s a great teammate. He’s a great person. He just wants to help this team win. Wherever we need him to play, he’s willing to play.”
After Red Wings forward Valterri Filppula netted his fifth goal of the season to open scoring 5:37 into regulation, the Penguins’ fourth line responded at 7:58 of the first period partly thanks to Hornqvist.
Stealing a puck off Red Wings forward Christoffer Ehn behind the Detroit cage, Penguins forward Andrew Agozzino backhanded a pass to forward Sam Lafferty above the crease. After Lafferty’s initial shot was denied by goaltender Jimmy Howard, Hornqvist crashed into the blue paint and forced Red Wings defenseman Mike Green to push the rebound into the cage during a furious goalmouth scramble.
Hornqvist was credited with the goal but following the game, a scoring change gave Lafferty his sixth goal.
A power-play score by defenseman Kris Letang, his 14th of the season, at 14:35 of the first put the Penguins up for good. Hornqvist recorded the secondary assist, but perhaps most importantly, provided a screen along with forward Bryan Rust in front of Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard.
Only 2:53 into the second, the fourth line struck again.
After Agozzino stole a clearing attempt by Red Wings defenseman Gustav Lindstrom at Detroit’s left point, Hornqvist fired a wrister from the left circle past Howard’s blocker for his 13th goal.
“To play with a guy like him, he’s so simple to play with because he’s in the right spot,” Agozzino said. “You know in the offensive zone, he’s going to be in and around the net. Sam and I actually talked about if we can get pucks there, he’s going to bang one in for us.”
Penguins forward Sidney Crosby scored his 11th goal with a one-timer from above the right circle, which ended Howard’s day. He was pulled in favor of Jonathan Bernier.
That did little to stymie the Penguins. Hornqvist, promoted to the third line following Aston-Reese’s departure, took a pass from forward Brandon Tanev to create a breakaway. Approaching the net, he ripped a wrister past Bernier’s glove hand.
Hats littered the ice as, at the time, Hornqvist officially had a hat trick.
“It feels good obviously to score three goals,” Hornqvist said, before the scoring change was registered. “The first one was kind of lucky but the other two, they were nice goals.”
With Aston-Reese’s status uncertain and potential returns by injured forwards Nick Bjugstad (core muscle) and Dominik Kahun (concussion) on the horizon, the makeup of the lineup could be different in the immediate future.
But considering as recently as eight days ago, the fourth line, with the since-jettisoned Alex Galchenyuk, logged less than five minutes, production from that portion of the lineup is a welcomed development.
“The biggest thing is we were able to help the team tonight,” Agozzino said. “It doesn’t matter how much we play. As long as we have a positive impact on a win, that’s good for us.”
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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