Penguins forward Kasperi Kapanen not worried over little offense
Pittsburgh Penguins forward Kasperi Kapanen entered Saturday’s home game against his former team, the Toronto Maple Leafs, without a goal in the first four games of the season.
Despite such futility, Kapanen, who had nine shots before Saturday, has been somewhat sated in just creating scoring opportunities.
“Obviously, you want to score as many goals as possible right off the hop,” said Kapanen, who opened Saturday’s game on the Penguins’ top line. “But I’d be more worried if I didn’t have chances. And I’ve had a lot of those. It’s just right now, it’s hitting sticks or it’s hitting posts. I’ve barely missed the net. It’s frustrating, but it’s only four games into the season. I’ve got plenty of time. What better time to get my first one than (Saturday)?”
Penguins coach Mike Sullivan expressed little concern in Kapanen’s inability to find the back of the net prior to Saturday.
“(Kapanen) is a real good player,” Sullivan said. “He’s going to score goals for us. He had a really good training camp. He’s had moments throughout the course of the first four games when he’s been a real threat. He can be a more consistent threat. Him and I had a discussion today on specifically how that could happen. But we believe (Kapanen) is a real good player, and if he continues just to try to focus on playing the game the right way, he’ll get rewarded. As far as the details and the specifics on what (Kapanen) and I discussed, we’ll keep that between us. But he’s certainly a guy, we’re very confident that he’s going to score goals for us.”
Sullivan has had some frank discussions in the past with the talented Kapanen. For his part, Kapanen doesn’t mind the occasional bit of “tough love.”
“(Sullivan) and the strength (coaches) have been on me this summer,” Kapanen said. “And I was here quite a bit this summer in just trying to prepare for the season. I feel amazing. Sometimes, when I get sloppy and I’m not at my best, he’s going to let me know and I think that’s how a coach should be.”
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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