Penguins forward Danton Heinen's scoring speaks volumes

A politely bashful soul, Pittsburgh Penguins forward Danton Heinen is a man of few words.

Ask him about any individual success, and he’ll typically deflect the query with a response about teamwide goals.

And thankfully for his team, he has found plenty of goals in his year-plus tenure with the Penguins.

Initially joining the franchise as an unrestricted free agent signing in July 2021, Heinen has played 81 games for the Penguins dating to last season — one less than a typical regular-season schedule — and has 21 goals over that span.

His two most recent scores were pivotal in the Penguins’ 6-3 comeback road win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.

Subbing in for injured All-Star forward Jake Guentzel on the team’s top line, each of Heinen’s goals was similar to the type Guentzel might have collected.

His first came at 14 minutes, 10 seconds of the second period and tied the score 3-3.

Corralling a loose puck at the center point of the offensive zone, Penguins defenseman Marcus Pettersson chucked a wrister toward the cage. Goaltender Elvis Merzlikins made the initial save but could not settle the rebound. From the slot, Penguins forward Sidney Crosby backhand swatted at the puck, causing it to carom to the right of the crease, where Heinen — in a Guentzelian fashion — swept in the rebound with a forehand shot.

His second goal provided the Penguins with a two-goal cushion late in regulation at 14:07 of the final period.

From the left point of the offensive zone, Penguins defenseman P.O Joseph snapped off a wrister that Merzlikins aggressively punched away, only to have the rebound hit off the backside of Blue Jackets defenseman Andrew Peeke. The rebound bounced to the right of the crease, where Heinen, like a scavenger, lifted an easy wrister over a sprawling Merzlikins.

“He’s a guy who knows how to find the back of the net,” Crosby said to media in Columbus after Saturday’s game. “He’s got a great shot. He goes to the tough areas, too. Tonight, he scored a couple of times doing that. … (Heinen) found a way to get to those loose pucks and jump on them. That’s what he does as a goal scorer. He found a way to do it again tonight.”

For Heinen, his approach is simple. And his description of how he goes about his vocation isn’t overly expressive.

“If the shot is there, shoot,” Heinen said Friday in Cranberry. “Don’t pass.”

The Penguins passed on keeping Heinen as a restricted free agent this past offseason. His potential arbitration award would have wreaked havoc on the Penguins’ salary cap. So they formally declined to extend him a qualifying offer July 11, allowing him to become an unrestricted free agent. After fielding mostly unsatisfactory offers elsewhere, Heinen re-signed with the Penguins on July 27, agreeing to a one-year contract for $1 million (which was $100,000 less than what he played for the previous season).

That reunion has benefited each party. After Saturday’s win, Heinen surpassed Guentzel as the Penguins’ second-leading scorer with six points (three goals, three assists) in five games.

“I think he’s played really well,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said on Friday. “He’s another guy that I think has good offensive instincts. He could play the type of game that Sid likes to play. He’s good in tight areas, he can play a give-and-go game down low, he’s great in traffic, he has finishing capabilities.

“Danton’s had a really good start to our season. He’s played extremely well, and he’s another player that I think has the offensive instincts that can play in the top six. So regardless of what our line combinations look like, he’s a guy that I think is always in the conversation as part of that group.”

Notes: On Sunday, the Penguins placed forward Teddy Blueger on long-term injured reserve and recalled forwards Drake Caggiula as well as Sam Poulin from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League. Blueger has been hobbled by an undisclosed injury he suffered during a training camp practice on Sept. 28.