Kasperi Kapanen has been out scoring a number of the Pittsburgh Penguins stars in nearly a third of the time.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are in the midst of a five-game losing streak and have been unable to close out leads in three straight matches.
In each of those last three losses, Kasperi Kapanen played under 10 minutes of ice time with the Penguins, yet looked like one of the better players in a couple of them.
Not to say there’s a direct correlation between more Kapanen and winning games, but just by looking at the numbers, it’s curious why he isn’t getting more ice time.
The Penguins got out to a 4-0 lead over the Detroit Red Wings in the first period, and Kapanen was big help picking up two assists.
While the Red Wings climbed back into the game to win 5-4 in overtime, you can’t place a lot of that blame on Kapanen, because he wasn’t on the ice.
Kapanen only played four shifts between the final two frames including just a single appearance in the third period.
Sure, as a coaching staff in a game that’s slipping away, you want your top scorers on the ice to take control.
The issue with that mindset for the Penguins right now is that they’re stars have gone flat.
Sidney Crosby hasn’t scored a point in four games and is a minus-6 in that span; Jake Guentzel has gone four games and is a minus-5.
Then comes the Winter Classic, the biggest stage of the NHL’s regular season; after a scoreless first, it was Kapanen who broke the ice with a goal in the second period.
The Penguins carried that one-goal lead into the third period, but let it slip away to a 2-1 defeat; Kapanen played a total of 7:21 seconds, and they played with one less forward.
We all understand Kapanen isn’t going to be a contributor next to Crosby on the first line, but he’s been doing his part.
In the last three games alone Kapanen has played 23:24 minutes of ice and picked up a goal and two assists; Crosby has gone scoreless in over 70 minutes of the same three games.
Obviously, Crosby won't be given less ice time, and he shouldn't be, but Kapanen is more than deserving of a few extra chances.
He's already capitalized while not being given proper playing time.
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