Zucker find his groove at last
Point-per-game pace giving a big boost to team’s offense
Three years, two significant injuries and one pandemic later, Jason Zucker is finally producing like the guy the Penguins thought they were getting in early 2020, when they acquired him from the Minnesota Wild just before COVID-19 arrived.
He was impactful for spurts during his first three incomplete seasons in Pittsburgh. But nagging injuries and COVID-related disruptions to the NHL’s schedule did not allow the winger to settle into a stretch of prolonged performance until now.
Better late than never as far as the Penguins are concerned. They were buoyed in the first month of the season by the efforts of Zucker and their second line.
Through the first 15 games for the Penguins, Zucker is scoring at a point-per-game pace. Only Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have produced more points.
Zucker scored last week at Washington and Toronto to help Pittsburgh snap out of its funk. He then had a trio of assists in Saturday’s loss in Montreal, enabling the Penguins to end the road trip with a 2-0-1 record. His line, which includes Malkin and Rickard Rakell, tallied two goals at 5-on-5 against the Canadiens.
Coach Mike Sullivan couldn’t be more delighted about that development, both in the short term and for what it could mean for his team way down the road.
“It’s huge,” Sullivan said. “He’s such an important player for us because it solidifies the top six when Geno’s line is going the way it’s going. They were really good again [Saturday]. I think it makes us a whole lot harder to play against.”
With 13 points in his 13 games played this season, Zucker, 30, is already four points shy of the meager total he mustered last season, when he struggled through a core muscle injury that required surgery and was later re-aggravated.
Down the stretch last season and into the playoffs, Zucker had to alter his skating stride just to remain in the lineup. Seemingly at least once in every game, he was in visible pain. He couldn’t even sit on the bench between shifts due to discomfort. All of that affected his confidence and his ability to play instinctually.
He had eight goals and 17 points in 41 regular-season games then gutted it out through the firstround playoff loss against the New York Rangers as best he could. Zucker sat out two of those games and finished the series without a goal.
Healthy again, Zucker this season has been a difference-maker most nights.
“It was definitely a tough year for him,” Brock McGinn said. “Just seeing the way he’s playing this year, he brings so much
energy and work to our team. He’s hard on pucks and he drags everybody in this room into those battles. So it’s awesome [watching] him right now, and hopefully he can keep it going here.”
Zucker’s peripheral numbers are in line with his peak years with the Wild, when he had four consecutive 20goal seasons, including a 33goal campaign in 2017-18.
His 0.27 expected goals per game match his mark from his career year.
His 1.5 shots from the slot per game are his highest since at least 2016-17, per Sportlogiq. And he is tied for the team lead in scoring chances in transition with 10.
That one-timer he ripped home off the rush in Friday’s win against the Toronto Maple Leafs? Yeah, Zucker concedes he was physically unable to pull something like that off last season, when his injury often left him lagging behind the play.
Even if his 9.3% true shooting percentage does regress back toward his career average, what matters is that he is getting back into prime scoring position.
He ranks sixth among Penguins players in shots from the slot, per Sportlogiq, and his five scoring chances generated off rebounds are tied for the team lead.
His 3.93 expected goals per 60 minutes put him in the top 10 among all NHL regulars entering Monday, per Natural Stat Trick. He cited fierce forechecking and collective play with his linemates as reasons for his uptick in opportunity.
“We’re trying to make sure we stay close together as a unit of three. And if we do that we can keep pucks in, we feel like we can dominate teams down low in the offensive zone,” Zucker said after Monday’s practice. “For us, it’s just about playing as a unit, trying to give [Malkin] those second chances to make plays.”
Zucker so far has been relentless in puck pursuit. His totals for offensive- zone puck recoveries had been steadily decreasing throughout his time in Pittsburgh, which included a significant ankle injury in 2020-21. That has picked back up.
And while Zucker is not quite at the same level in that category as he was during his time with the Wild, his 10.9 hits per 60 minutes would be a career best.
“He plays the game really hard. It feels like he’s always skating,” Brian Dumoulin said. “I can’t believe how hard he hits. Going in on the forecheck, that’s not a guy you want coming in on you, which is surprising for how much skill he has.”
Zucker has downplayed his rediscovered scoring touch. And he doesn’t want to get ahead of himself, understandable given his awful injury luck in Pittsburgh.
“I’m just trying to stay consistent, trying to stay healthy and stay on top of my body and make sure that all of that’s going well,” Zucker said. “For me, it’s about trying to stay healthy and stay in the lineup and help the team any way that I can.”
But talk to the Penguins, and they will tell you how much it means to both Zucker and the team that he is meeting the lofty expectations set 33 months ago.
“When he’s healthy and he’s going, he’s so important to our team,” Dumoulin said.
Around the boards
Malkin missed Monday’s practice in Cranberry because of personal reasons, but is expected to be in the lineup Tuesday against the Toronto Maple Leafs. ... Forward Filip Hallander continued to be sidelined by illness. ... Tristan Jarry, Teddy Blueger and Pierre-Oliver Joseph were among those who practiced Monday.