NEW YORK -- Radim Zohorna has only been in North America for a few months, so he's still settling in.
There's a new language to learn. New foods and culture to experience. Smaller rinks than the ones he played on in his native Czech Republic to which he must adapt.
So much is so different.
Zohorna, though, appears to be adjusting pretty well.
A lot better than opposing teams probably wish he was.
Certainly, after his performance during the Penguins' 5-2 victory Thursday night at Madison Square Garden, the New York Rangers would have preferred that he'd stayed on the far side of the Atlantic.
That's because Zohorna shoehorned a lot of quality hockey into his team-low seven minutes and 26 seconds of ice time, scoring a spectacular goal to open the scoring and later setting up Evan Rodrigues' game-winner.
It was just his fourth game in the NHL, but offered an intriguing look at the potential impact a player with his size (6 foot 6, 220 pounds), skating ability and hand skills could have when he gets fully acclimated.
Mike Sullivan declined to predict how high Zohorna's ceiling might be, but sounded as if he believes it should be comfortably above ground-level.
"We really like what we've seen from (Zohorna)," he said. "From the minute he's been at training camp, we've been really intrigued by his game. We think he has good hockey sense. He has good offensive instincts. He's really strong on the puck for a big man. His bottom hand on his stick is really strong and therefore, he's good in traffic.
"We knew there was going to be an adjustment to the smaller rink, the pace of play, but we've been really intrigued by his game from the start of training camp. And with every additional game that he's getting in the NHL and every additional practice that he's getting with NHL players, the pace of the game and just the way he processes it is slowing down in his mind."
If Zohorna is processing plays as quickly as he skated before scoring his goal, he might have a super computer hidden under his helmet.
He was in full stride in the neutral zone when he pulled in a cross-ice pass from Marcus Pettersson, then charged down the right side before fending off Rangers defenseman Libor Hajek with his left leg while cutting to the net and throwing the puck past goalie Igor Shesterkin at 6:26 of the opening period.
"It'd love to have those long legs, (that) long stride," Kris Letang said. "Once he gets going, it's pretty tough to stop him."
Although Zohorna's coaches and teammates were understandably impressed by that goal, Zohorna didn't appear to be.
"I did this in the Czech (Republic) and I did it in the (American Hockey League)," he said. "I was at full speed and I wanted to try to skate and go to the net. I was a little bit lucky."
Zohorna has two goals and two assists in his first four NHL games, while averaging just 9:11 of playing time.
Despite the limited duty, he'd made an impression on his co-workers.
"For a big man, he's got great hands," Rodrigues said. "He's confident with the puck. For a guy who's just playing his first handful of games, he doesn't look nervous out there. He wants the puck on his stick."
So, it turns out, does Rodrigues. These days, anyway.
That wasn't the case earlier this season, when he was so displeased with his work that he sought advice from Sullivan, whose primary message was to believe in his own abilities.
It got through.
"Since then, I'm making plays, wanting the puck on my stick," Rodrigues said. "I want to be a difference-maker, and that's led to a lot more opportunity, a lot more chances for myself in the past handful or so of games."
Rodrigues made the most of one during a man-advantage in the second period, when Zohorna set him up at the front lip of the crease at 11:28.
Rodrigues was working on the No. 2 power play when he scored, but his major role was as right winger on the Penguins' second line, a position he is filling while Kasperi Kapanen recovers from an injury.
That's a temporary assignment, but so are most that Rodrigues takes on, because he can move up and down the lineup and fill pretty much any niche into which he is placed.
"He's a versatile guy," Sullivan said. "That's one of the reasons we signed him (as an unrestricted free agent). We knew he could play up and down the lineup. We knew he could play the center-ice position, he could play on the wing. He could kill penalties, if we needed him to. He could play on a power play. ... There isn't a role that we've put him in that he hasn't embraced."
That's pretty much how the entire team reacted to Sullivan's challenge to tighten their defensive play after the Penguins had given up 15 goals during the previous two games, one of which was an 8-4 loss to the Rangers Tuesday.
"We did a better job," Letang said. "Obviously, they're a very dangerous team, offensively. A lot of skill and speed. ... We did a better job defending as a unit of five all over the ice."
They limited New York to 24 shots on goal and, while there is still ample room for improvement -- "It wasn't perfect, by any stretch," Sullivan said -- the Penguins played with a commitment and attention to detail that had been conspicuously absent for much of the previous two games.
"I thought we were much better," Sullivan said. "Not only the quantity, but the quality, of the (scoring) chances were not as good as we gave up the other night, and I think that's reflected in the score."
Goalie Tristan Jarry both contributed to, and benefited from, that renewed emphasis on preventing goals.
He finished with 22 saves, including one on a penalty shot awarded to Rangers forward Chris Kreider at 17:59 of the second period, after Cody Ceci tripped him while Kreider was going in alone on Jarry.
Jarry denied him by getting his glove on Kreider's penalty shot, which prevented New York from whittling the Penguins' lead to 3-2 as the second intermission approached.
"It's a huge moment in the game," Sullivan said. "When you get that timely save, I think it boosts the confidence of the group in front of him."
Jason Zucker rewarded Jarry by getting him an insurance goal at 10:29 of the third to put the Penguins up by three.
And while Kevin Rooney's goal at 13:48 got New York back to within it, the Penguins fended off the Rangers until Mark Jankowski could close out the scoring with an empty-net goal at 18:29.
The goals from Jankowski and Zohorna meant that members of the Penguins' fourth line chipped in two more than the Penguins got from their top unit of Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust.
Such diversity in the offense is critical, especially on nights when the No. 1 line is kept off the scoresheet. That was the case Thursday, aside from Guentzel's assist on a Letang goal that put the Penguins in front to stay, 2-1, at 3:23 of the second.
"That's a pretty important aspect of our success going forward," Letang said. "Every time your bottom-six or your second power play can get on board, it's a big bonus. It's huge."
At least as big at Radim Zohorna.
Or one of his legs, anyway.
MORE FROM THE GAME
• Sam Lafferty had a strong game, highlighted by three shots on goal and a fight with rugged Rangers defenseman Brendan Smith. "He's not afraid of anything," Letang said. "He goes hard every day, brings a physical element, a speed element to our game, and he fought a pretty tough guy tonight, a veteran in this league. A guy who has fought a lot before. To see (Lafferty) go out there and try to make a difference is a huge boost."
• The Penguins won the season series with the Rangers, 6-2.
• Frederick Gaudreau continues to impress with his solid play all over the ice. Thursday, that included going 11-1 on faceoffs,
• Kreider's penalty shot was the fourth of his career. He is 0-for-4.
THE ESSENTIALS
THE THREE STARS
As selected at Madison Square Garden:
1. Radim Zohorna, Penguins
2. Evan Rodrigues, Penguins
3. Kris Letang, Penguins
THE INJURIES
• Center Evgeni Malkin is week-to-week because of an unspecified lower-body injury sustained March 16.
• Center Teddy Blueger has been out since March 15 with an unspecified upper-body injury, but practiced Friday.
• Winger Brandon Tanev is week-to-week with an unspecified upper-body injury sustained April 3.
• Winger Anthony Angello has missed the past two games because of an unspecified upper-body injury.
• Defenseman Mark Friedman is day-to-day with an unspecified upper-body injury sustained March 4, but has been skating.
• Forward Kasperi Kapanen is week-to-week with a lower-body injury sustained March 24 and hasn't skated yet.
THE LINEUPS
Sullivan’s lines and pairings:
Jake Guentzel-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust
Jason Zucker-Jared McCann-Evan Rodrigues
Zach Aston-Reese-Frederick Gaudreau-Sam Lafferty
Radim Zohorna-Mark Jankowski-Colton Sceviour
Brian Dumoulin-Kris Letang
Mike Matheson-Cody Ceci
Marcus Pettersson-John Marino
And for David Quinn's Rangers:
Chris Kreider-Mika Zibanejad-Pavel Buchnevich
Artemi Panarin-Ryan Strome-Colin Blackwell
Alexis Lafreniere-Filip Chytil-Kaapo Kakko
Brett Howden--Kevin Rooney-Vitali Kravtsov
Ryan Lindgren-Adam Fox
K'Andre Miller-Jacob Trouba
Libor Hajek-Brendan Smith
THE SCHEDULE
The Penguins are scheduled to play New Jersey Friday at 7:08 p.m. at Prudential Center in Newark.
THE CONTENT
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