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Alex Nedeljkovic On Returning To Penguins Practice
Alex Nedeljkovic On Returning To Penguins Practice

Penguins Forward Still Hunting for First Goal

Pittsburgh Penguins forward Rickard Rakell has yet to score a goal this season, but he's been getting his chances.
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Ever since joining the Pittsburgh Penguins at the 2022 trade deadline, Rickard Rakell has been one of the most consistent and useful forwards on the team.

In his first full season with the Penguins, Rakell put up one of the most productive seasons of his career with 28 goals in an 82-game slate.

To kick off the 2023-24 season, however, Rakell hasn’t had the same amount of luck; through 14 games, he only has four assists to speak of with no goals.

Obviously, things aren’t going well if you’re not scoring, and for Rakell, this is an true oddity.

Over his NHL career, Rakell has picked up over 20 goals five times, including a pair of 30-goal seasons.

Rakell even led the Penguins in power play tallies in 2022-23; he’s always been a goal scorer.

Despite not finding the back of the net, Penguins’ head coach Mike Sullivan believes the dam will break for Rakell soon enough.

“I think he’s getting an awful lot of looks,” Sullivan said. “His game is sound; he’s making plays, he’s around the net, a lot. He’s gotten a fair amount of grade-A looks.”

Much in the way Reilly Smith started the season, the feeling is that once Rakell gets the monkey off of his back, things should be back to normal.

“If he continues to stay with it the puck will go in the net for him,” Sullivan said. “Hopefully, once he gets that first one, the flood gates will open for him.”

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Rakell’s lack of goal scoring certainly isn’t due to a lack of effort, either; in the first 14 games, he’s recorded 39 total shots on goal.

Soon enough, Rakell will capitalize on something; sharing a line with Smith and Evgeni Malkin should wake something in him eventually.

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