Galchenyuk shaves bad luck(?) off of his game
When Alex Galchenyuk hopped aboard the charter flight Friday to Nashville, Tenn., none of his teammates recognized him. The scraggly beard Galchenyuk had sported the entire season was gone. With some nifty razor work over Christmas break, the 25-year-old suddenly looked about half his age.
The facial hair might not be all that Galchenyuk changed. With goals in backto-back games, including one Saturday in the Penguins’ 6-4 victory against the Predators at PPG Paints Arena, Galchenyuk also might have reversed the course of his season after a miserable start that saw the one-time 30-goal man score just twice in his first 27 games.
Because of the new look that Galchenyuk decided to … well, carve out for himself, it might be easy to tie this to that. But while Galchenyuk did cop to having more confidence, he wasn’t ready to attribute his recent offensive surge to suddenly looking like he could suit up for the New York Yankees.
“It’s like asking you, ‘Why did you shave?’ ” Galchenyuk said with a laugh when asked why he decided to shave off his beard in the first place. “It seems like a lot of people have been talking about it because I always had a beard, then all of a sudden I shaved it off and have scored in back-to-back games.”
Had the Penguins healthy-scratched Galchenyuk earlier this season or traded him away for a bag of pucks, it’s likely nobody in Pittsburgh would’ve blamed them. The primary return in the Phil Kessel trade looked like a total flop. For whatever reason, Galchenyuk couldn’t finish. He would get opportunities, then he either would wait a tick too long or fire a shot that had zero chance of beating the goaltender.
That inability to score goals on a $4.9-million-a-year contract had him, at one point, banished to the fourth line, a role for which he’s not suited. That 2015-16 season, when Galchenyuk scored 30 goals for Montreal, seemed like forever ago. Galchenyuk’s future with the Penguins was murky at best.
But in this time, when Galchenyuk was unable to lock down anything resembling a regular role, something kind of cool happened: He didn’t quit. He kept working after practice, kept watching video with assistant coach Mark Recchi, kept searching for something that he knew was there.
“Alex works so hard,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “He’s really a great person. He cares so much. When Alex was struggling early on, it really wasn’t from a lack of effort or a lack of care or a lack of want. It was just a struggle for him.”
Galchenyuk’s goal Saturday was a testament to his confidence level, which is seemingly on the rise. On the power play, after John Marino carried the puck into the right corner, Galchenyuk made himself available in the slot. Marino, a terrific young defenseman, slid a pass to the middle.
Galchenyuk quickly gathered the puck and blasted a shot that beat Pekka Rinne blocker-side.
A couple of months ago, that puck likely would’ve sailed wide or had been swallowed up in Rinne’s pads. Or, worse, Galchenyuk might’ve waited entirely too long to take the shot.
It was similar to the goal Galchenyuk scored Friday, when he pushed a puck through traffic; a couple of months ago, there’s no way that shot would’ve made it made it through.
“It’s been going well,” Galchenyuk said. “I just have to keep working and sticking to it.”
It looks like the line Galchenyuk is on — with Jared McCann and Dominik Kahun — has some potential, too. They can all skate, they’re reasonable responsible defensively, and they see the ice well. It also seems that Kahun and Galchenyuk have some chemistry together, as evidenced by Galchenyuk’s behind-the-net feed Saturday to Kahun, giving Galchenyuk his third multipoint game with the Penguins.
“It’s fun to play with those guys,” Galchenyuk said. “They make a lot of plays. They slow down the game a little bit and make my life easier out there.”
Life is a little more enjoyable for Galchenyuk these days, even if he doesn’t anticipate keeping the cleanshaven look. Soon the beard will be back. And Galchenyuk hopes some of his puck luck will stick around as well.
“It’s not like I’ve never scored a goal in this league,” Galchenyuk said. “I’ve been through cold stretches before. Now, it’s been going well for me. I have to stick to it, keep working on my game and keep shooting the puck quicker.”