SUBSCRIBE NEWSLETTERS
ADVERTISE| CLASSIFIEDS| JOBS| E-TRIB
HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS NETWORK TRIBLIVE LOCAL
Western Pennsylvania's trusted news source
A look at the unlucky 13 'first-shot' goals the Penguins have allowed this season | TribLIVE.com
Pope Francis, first Latin American pontiff, dies at 88
Penguins/NHL

A look at the unlucky 13 'first-shot' goals the Penguins have allowed this season

Seth Rorabaugh
Seth Rorabaugh
8273050_web1_ptr-PensBlue03-010825
Chaz Palla | TribLive
Columbus’ Dmitri Voronkov beats Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry on the Blue Jackets’ first shot of the game Jan. 7 at PPG Paints Arena.

It’s definitely an oddity. But a frequent one.

In their 64 games this season, the Pittsburgh Penguins have allowed a goal on the first opposition’s first shot 13 different times.

“Sometimes, it’s just a matter of getting yourself ready to go,” Penguins goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic said at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday. “Just being in that right mindset, it happens different ways for everybody. Everybody has got to do different things to get their minds in the right place. Sometimes, it’s just as simple as it’s an attitude. You’ve got to have an attitude and just be ready to go. The puck drops, flip the switch and we’ve got to go. We’ve got to figure out how do that.”

A closer look at the goals shows a sampling of a wide variety of ways a hockey team can be scored upon — from puck mismanagement to shoddy defensive-zone play to goaltending errors.

Here is how the unlucky 13 have happened:

Oct. 9 – New York Rangers 6, Penguins 0

The Penguins pretty much established a theme in their season opener by allowing Rangers forward Sam Carrick to score on his team’s first shot of the contest.

Accepting a pass at the right point of the offensive zone, Rangers defenseman and longtime Penguins nemesis Jacob Trouba chucked a wrister toward the cage. Battling with defenseman Kris Letang above the crease, Carrick redirected the puck to the far side of the crease where it clunked off the left leg of Penguins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk and behind goaltender Tristan Jarry.

Oct. 16 – Penguins 6, Buffalo Sabres 5 (overtime)

After stopping a dump-in by the Sabres on his own end boards, Jarry failed to sense forechecking Sabres forward Tage Thompson and lost possession. As Jarry scrambled to return to the crease, Thompson jostled the puck away from linemate Alex Tuch as well as defenseman Erik Karlsson and chopped a backhander from the right side of the cage past Jarry’s left skate.

Nov. 7 – Carolina Hurricanes 5, Penguins 1

Following a neutral zone turnover by Penguins forward Lars Eller, ex-Penguins forward Jordan Staal made an offensive zone entry on the right wing. As defenseman Marcus Pettersson maintained a sound gap against Staal, his defensive partner, Erik Karlsson, lost track of Hurricanes forward Jordan Martinook hustling in from the left wing. That led to Staal slipping a sharp pass below the lower left hashmark, where Martinook deflected in a forehand shot over Nedeljkovic’s blocker on the near side.

Nov. 11 – Dallas Stars 7, Penguins 1

Accepting a pass in the neutral zone, Stars forward Matt Duchene gained the offensive blue line with momentum and veered to his right, sending defenseman Ryan Graves spinning out of orbit in reaction. With an acre of ice and a calendar of time to work with, Duchene fired a wrister from the right circle that leaked through rookie goaltender Joel Blomqvist’s glove and trickled into the net.

Nov. 15 – Columbus Blue Jackets 6, Penguins 2

Corralling a loose puck on the left half-wall of the offensive zone, Blue Jackets defenseman Jake Christiansen chucked a wrister toward the cage. Shrugging off a handful of shoves from Graves, ex-Penguins forward Zach Aston-Reese stationed himself just to the left of the crease and deflected the puck with the shaft of his stick past Jarry’s glove on the far side.

Nov. 22 – Winnipeg Jets 4, Penguins 1

Racing back for a loose puck near his own left corner, Pettersson rimmed it along the end boards, presumably for Karlsson in the opposite corner. Karlsson and forward Evgeni Malkin appeared to get their wires crossed on the sequence and Malkin batted the puck into the lower right circle. Jets forward Adam Lowry tried to backhand the puck but missed, allowing it to slide to Jets forward Nino Niederreiter, who tucked a backhander by the left leg of a sluggish Jarry.

Dec. 12 – Penguins 9, Montreal Canadiens 2

From the left point of Montreal’s zone, Letang forced a pass attempt to the opposite point intended for Grzelcyk. Canadiens forward Cole Caufield recognized the telegraphed sequence and jabbed the puck away from Grzelcyk to the neutral zone, creating a two-on-one rush with Canadiens forward Nick Suzuki against Letang. As Caufield entered the Penguins’ zone on the left wing, Letang raced to him to apply pressure. That created space for Suzuki, who took a pass from Caufield and then attacked the net from the right hashmarks. Suzuki went forehand to backhand, deking Jarry out of position, and tucked a backhander into a mostly vacant cage.

Jan. 7 – Blue Jackets 4, Penguins 3 (shootout)

From the right half-wall of the offensive zone, Penguins forward Matt Nieto unsuccessfully attempted to clear a rimmed puck only to whip it into the shin guards of Blue Jackets forward Dmitri Voronkov. The puck deflected into the right circle where Blue Jackets forward Sean Monahan claimed possession and then curled around to the top of the circle before offloading a pass to the opposite circle. Blue Jackets forward Kirill Marchenko was stationed above the dot and faked a one-timer but chopped a pass to the top of the crease where Voronkov, facing little resistance, tapped in a forehand shot through Jarry’s five hole.

Jan. 11 – Ottawa Senators 5, Penguins 0

Dragging a puck out of the Penguins’ left corner, Senators forward Claude Giroux slid it to the near point for forward Tyler Kleven, who stroked a one-timer. The puck glanced off the stick of Penguins forward Noel Acciari — stationed in the crease — and made a slight course correction, beating Nedeljkovic’s blocker.

Feb. 8 – Philadelphia Flyers 3, Penguins 2

Gaining the Penguins’ blue line at the center point, Flyers forward Travis Konecny dished a pass to his left by the stick of Penguins forward Blake Lizotte to Flyers forward Scott Laughton. Mostly unimpeded en route to the cage, Laughton approached the crease from the left circle and tucked a clever backhander through Blomqvist’s five hole.

Feb. 25 – Flyers 6, Penguins 1

Gaining the offensive zone on the right wing, Flyers forward Owen Tippett fed a backhand to the near wall for rookie forward Matvei Michkov. Surveying his options for a moment, Michkov dished a pass to the center point for defenseman Egor Zamula, who then offloaded the puck to the left circle where Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen blasted a one-timer through Nedeljkovic’s five hole.

Feb. 27 – Penguins 5, Flyers 4 (overtime)

Lugging the puck up from his own zone, Flyers forward Bobby Brink gained the offensive blue line, fed a pass to the left wing for forward Noah Cates and drove the crease, colliding with Penguins defenseman Vincent Desharnais and Graves, intentionally creating a screen. Utilizing Brink’s tactic, Cates managed to nutmeg — i.e. shooting between a player’s skates — all three individuals involved in the screen and beat Nedeljkovic’s glove on the far side.

March 1 – Boston Bruins 3, Penguins 2

Off a breakout of the defensive zone, Bruins forward Pavel Zacha backhanded a center pass from the left wing for linemate David Pastrnak. Surging past Karlsson, Pastrnak gained the offensive blue line and attacked the cage down the slot with minimal resistance. Upon approach, Pastrnak juked Nedeljkovic out of position with a deft deke and tucked in a forehand shot.

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.

Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.

Get Ad-Free >

Categories: Penguins/NHL | Sports
Sports and Partner News