Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk has had little difficulty in setting up teammates this season.
Heading into Tuesday’s puck drop vs. the Los Angeles Kings, Grzelcyk’s 15 assists ranked fourth on the club, trailing only Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Erik Karlsson.
However, finding the back of the net had proved elusive.
Through 32 games with the Penguins, he’d managed zero goals, with his last one coming Jan. 11, 2024, last season while with the Boston Bruins.
But in his 33rd game of the year Tuesday, Grzelcyk finally netted one, scoring the game-tying goal at 14:25 of the third period that helped send the Penguins to overtime, where they eventually triumphed over the Kings, 3-2.
“It was awesome,” Grzelcyk said postgame. “I think (Los Angeles is) a very tough team. They’ve been playing really well, so for us to stick with it there and gut one out in overtime, that’s awesome. We’re really feeling more comfortable as a team with each other and building confidence, so that one felt good.”
The win bumped the Penguins (14-14-5), who are 7-2-1 over their last 10 games, into the final Eastern Conference wild-card position.
Grzelcyk’s goal was the result of a vintage feed by Sidney Crosby, who collected his 23rd assist of the year in a game that saw several good looks denied repeatedly by Kings netminder Darcy Kuemper.
Following a puck battle along the neutral zone wall, Crosby and Rickard Rakell crossed the offensive blue line.
Unsurprisingly, their surge into the offensive zone attracted the attention of every Kings skater, all five of whom converged as Crosby skated with the puck at the edge of the right faceoff circle.
Crosby then flipped a perfectly placed backhand pass to Grzelcyk, who descended all alone into the opposite faceoff circle with plenty of time to locate his shot.
From 25 feet out, he fired a wrister, beating Kuemper and tying the game.
“He’s probably the only guy in the rink that could make that play,” coach Mike Sullivan said of Crosby’s pass. “It’s a backhand sauce, lands flat right on the tape. There aren’t a lot of guys that can make that type of a play.”
Added Grzelcyk of Crosby’s assist: “That play was all him.”
By game’s end Tuesday, Grzelcyk’s 22:13 of ice time was second only to Karlsson (27:02) on the Penguins.
Grzelcyk’s goal was also notable because it came on a rare instance of him shooting with the express intent of scoring as opposed to tossing a puck on net from the blue line and looking for a deflection or tip-in.
The latter has borne fruit for Grzelcyk repeatedly this year, with his overall puck-moving prowess a major reason the Penguins were interested in bringing him aboard in the offseason.
“When there’s people down at the net, he delivers pucks,” Sullivan said. “He’s not always shooting to score. He’s shooting to create that next play. And I think that’s an incredible skill in today’s game. And, it’s timely. If you wait too long, the lanes close (because) there’s layers of shot-blockers.
“I think (Grzelcyk) is very good along the offensive blue line and recognizes the lanes when they’re there. When they’re not, he has the ability to move laterally along the line to create the lane. And so, I think those two areas, I think he’s really helped our team.”
Grzelcyk is currently occupying a place on the Penguins’ third defensive pairing.
Defensively, Grzelcyk has been open about his uneven play at times this year.
Ultimately, that aspect of his game will remain the priority.
But it’s hard to discount the offensive contributions he’s managed, having already well eclipsed his points total (11) from 63 games with Boston last year.
Furthermore, Grzelcyk’s career-best in assists over parts of eight NHL campaigns is 22 (2022-23), putting him comfortably on pace to establish a new high-water mark in that department.
“You always feel better about your game when you see the puck going in the net,” Grzelcyk said. “I think we have so many good forwards up front that you’re just trying to get the puck to them in areas to create. My job’s just to have a good first pass on the breakout and then, once in the offensive zone, just get it to them as quick as I can. Get pucks to the front of the net because we have, as you saw with (Rickard Rakell’s) overtime goal, a lot of guys who can make plays like that happen.”
