Casey DeSmith said he hadn't seen the Penguins' bench celebrate so hard for a goal this season.
"Even I was back there raising my hands up," DeSmith said. "I got so excited too."
It wasn't an overtime game-winner, or a milestone goal for the captain, or any wild play that's going to make it onto the SportsCenter Top 10 list.
The goal that had the Penguins' bench so hyped up was rookie Czech forward Radim Zohorna's first-period tally on his first shot in his NHL debut, a goal that would stand to be the game-winner in a 4-0 shutout of the Sabres at PPG Paints Arena on Thursday night.
Late in the first period, Anthony Angello skated behind the Penguins' net and attempted to make a centering pass to Freddy Gaudreau that got broken up. Angello recovered the puck and passed it to Zohorna at the left circle. Zohorna fired the one-timer past Sabres goaltender Dustin Tokarski:
He jumped into the arms of Angello in celebration and was swarmed by teammates. The bench erupted in celebration and even the typically-stoic Mike Sullivan applauded.
I asked Sullivan about Zohorna's game and what it was like seeing that emotion from both Zohorna and his teammates after the goal.
"So great," Sullivan said. "It was so great. It was a terrific goal first and foremost. It shows how good his hands are, and his skillset. I thought he had a real good game. But to see the emotion on his face -- not just him, our whole team -- it's just really a cool moment. Anytime a player gets their first NHL goal, I think everybody on the bench can relate to what that moment means. Players never forget that first goal. I think it meant a lot to everybody, you could see it, just the raw emotion on the bench. Everybody was so happy for him."
Joe Sargent / Getty
Radim Zohorna jumps into the arms of Anthony Angello after scoring his first NHL goal.
"You love seeing that," Sidney Crosby said with a smile when asked about Zohorna's goal. "You know it's his first game, and you think back to those emotions and those feelings that you had in your own first game, all the guys that have had memorable first nights like that. To see him score in his first game and see that emotion, that's a huge boost and gets us going. It's a great feeling on the bench when you see that."
Zohorna, who skates especially well for a guy who is 6 foot 6, 230 pounds, handled the pace of the game well after he settled in throughout the game.
"It's a little bit faster (than the AHL)," he said. "I was nervous the first few shifts, and after when I scored I had no stress, I felt very good."
Zohorna took the solo rookie lap during warmups before the game, as is tradition for any player making his NHL debut. It was part of the NHL experience he was looking for when he signed a one-year deal with the Penguins last spring and made the jump to North America.
"Before, when I played in the Czech Republic, I saw this on Instagram and on the NHL app," he said with a laugh of the rookie lap. "I was very happy."
After making his debut and scoring in the win, Zohorna wasn't quite able to put into words what the moment meant to him.
"I don't have words, you know," Zohorna said. "It's why I play hockey, it's what I want to be, every year better and better. The boys made me a dream. I have no words."
MORE FROM THE GAME
• The Penguins got two nearly identical goals from Jared McCann on the power play:
McCann was added to the top unit after Kasperi Kapanen was sidelined on a week-to-week basis after getting hit with a puck in the lower body in Wednesday's game.
"Jared can score goals," Sullivan said. "We've said that for awhile now. He can score goals. He can really shoot the puck, he's got a very deceptive release, and he shoots it hard. I think at this particular time, with the injuries that we have, we're relying on him to help us offensively. That's something we think is a strength of is. He's really good on the power play, coming off that wall on his strong side. He's got a knack for catching that puck in motion and getting his weight behind the puck. He can really shoot the puck, he's a goal-scorer."
• Jake Guentzel sealed the win with an empty net goal, and Crosby's secondary assist was his 1,300th point in the NHL, after recording No. 1,298 and No. 1,299 with assists on McCann's goals.
"It's a nice number," Crosby said. "I wasn't thinking about it a ton. Tonight was a big game, and we were just focused on getting a win. Glad to see Guentzy put one in, he's had a ton of chances. He's been doing so many great things since the start of the year. Love seeing him put the puck in the net, it was nice to see him get rewarded with that one and get that 1,300th point there."
"He's one of the game's best players of all-time," Sullivan said of Crosby's latest milestone. "He's certainly one of the game's best players of his generation. All of these milestones that he's accruing here along the way are just evidence of the body of work that he's put together. It's probably fitting that he gets it in a pulled-goalie situation, where we put him in a defensive posture. He makes a great play defensively on the wall to create that loose puck, and move the puck to (Bryan Rust) who inevitably gets it to Jake for the empty-net goal. It's probably fitting, it's just so indicative of how good he is on both sides of the puck."
The Penguins, Red Wings, and Bruins are the only teams to have more than one player record 1,300 points with the same team. Mario Lemieux, obviously, was the Penguins' first.
• Casey DeSmith made 36 saves in a shutout, which Dejan covered in his column on the goaltending.
• The shutout briefly appeared to have been snapped by Victor Olofsson late in the third period, but the Penguins challenged the goal for being offside and had it overturned.
"I think I owe a couple of people some things," DeSmith said about his fortune on the overturned goal. "(Andy Saucier), the video guy, I'm sure he had a lot to do with it. I'm going to go give him a big hug. Sully and (Cody Ceci), there's a lot that went into that. I've never been happier to see an offside."
• Brandon Tanev didn't play and remains day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
• The Sabres were without interim head coach Don Granato and interim assistant coach Matt Ellis due to COVID protocol, forcing general manager Kevyn Adams to fill in as head coach. Before the game, Adams said he wasn't quite sure when he had last coached at any level.
• The Sabres were also without a couple of key players, including goaltender Linus Ullmark, who earlier in the week was named a possibility to return from injury and start in Thursday's game. He was unable to play, and instead of turning to Michael Houser, who spent last season in the ECHL, the Sabres turned to Tokarski for a second consecutive night. Tokarski was DeSmith's backup in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton last season.
"It was fun to play against 'Ticker,' Tokarski," DeSmith said. "He was a good goalie partner last year, we had a lot of fun. It was nice to play against him tonight."
Goaltending was the least of the Sabres' problems in these two games. Tokarski took the loss in both, but not a bad showing from him in his first NHL appearances since 2015.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Video highlights
• NHL scoreboard
• Standings
• Statistics
THE THREE STARS
As selected at PPG Paints Arena
1. Casey DeSmith, Penguins
2. Sidney Crosby, Penguins
3. Jared McCann, Penguins
THE INJURIES
• Forward Jason Zucker is out longer-term with a lower-body injury sustained on Feb. 23 and has resumed skating.
• Defenseman Mark Friedman is day-to-day with an upper-body injury sustained on March 4. He's resumed practicing with the team.
• Forward Teddy Blueger is out longer-term with an upper-body injury sustained on March 15.
• Forward Evgeni Malkin is week-to-week with a lower-body injury sustained on March 16.
• Forward Brandon Tanev is day-to-day with an upper-body injury sustained on March 18.
• Forward Kasperi Kapanen is week-to-week with a lower-body injury sustained March 24.
THE LINEUPS
Sullivan’s lines and pairings:
Jake Guentzel-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust
Zach Aston-Reese-Jared McCann-Evan Rodrigues
Colton Sceviour-Mark Jankowski-Sam Lafferty
Radim Zohorna-Freddy Gaudreau-Anthony Angello
Brian Dumoulin-Kris Letang
Mike Matheson-Cody Ceci
Marcus Pettersson-John Marino
And for Kevyn Adams' Sabres:
Taylor Hall-Eric Staal-Sam Reinhart
Jeff Skinner-Curtis Lazar-Casey Mittelstadt
Victor Olofsson-Riley Sheahan-Dylan Cozens
C.J. Smith-Cody Eakin-Steven Fogarty
Jacob Bryson-Rasmus Ristolainen
Brandon Montour-Colin Miller
Rasmus Dahlin-Henri Jokiharju
THE SCHEDULE
The Penguins have a scheduled day off Friday. They'll play the Islanders on Saturday evening.
THE CONTENT
Visit our team page for everything.
