When the Penguins drafted Filip Hallander in the second round in 2018, he described himself as "a two-way forward who likes to go to the net and put in rebounds."
A mere seven years, three months and 23 days later, Hallander finally scored his first NHL goal, in his third stint in the Penguins' organization. And it was exactly the kind of goal he said he could bring to the Penguins all that time ago:
The Penguins and Kings were tied 2-2 in the third period after goals from Evgeni Malkin and Connor Dewar, with Sidney Crosby nowserving a penalty for hooking. Rickard Rakell carried the puck into the Kings' end and rang a wrist shot off the left post. Hallander drove to the net and took a whack at the rebound that hit the side of the net. He stuck with it, and his second crack at the rebound beat Anton Forsbeg.
The shorthanded tally broke the tie, and stood as the game-winner in the eventual 4-2 Penguins win here in Los Angeles.
"It feels good," Hallander told me afterward with a smile. "I was waiting for it. It wasn't pretty, but it was pretty important."
Hallander's journey has been a long, interesting path in which he's grown as a player, a person, and learned more about what it takes to play at this level in every step. When he was drafted all those years ago, he estimated that it'd take him two years to be an NHL player. After his first day of development camp in 2021, he confidently declared that he was "here to take a spot."
Hallander having a family at a young age was a driving factor that led him back to Sweden to "find peace" in 2023. He matured, got faster, stronger, developed his scoring touch more and overall became more well-rounded as a player in the two seasons that followed, leading him back to Pittsburgh this summer a new player.
Through this early stretch of the season, Hallander has shown that he can be -- at minimum -- an effective bottom-six player, and that was the case in this win, even aside from the goal.
Hallander's 11:01 was a team-low ice time, but his four shot attempts tied him for fifth on the team. Three of the attempts came off rebounds, including on the sequence that led to his goal. At five-on-five, no Penguin was on the ice for a better share of shot attempts (61.54%) or unblocked shot attempts (66.67%).
Hallander skated in 63 second on the penalty kill, and in that time the Penguins led 5-0 in shot attempts, 5-0 in unblocked shot attempts, and 3-0 in shots.
"I think we were a bit more aggressive today," Hallander said of the penalty-kill. "I think the last game against Anaheim, we maybe sat back a little bit. So today, we were a bit more aggressive, and I think we showed that it was a lot better."
That aggressiveness paid off in Hallander's game-winning first goal.
"It's awesome," Dan Muse said of the goal. "Hallander's been playing really well. He was consistent with just you knew what you were going to get, shift in, shift out, and so now he's getting a little bit more, and he's doing a good job with it. It's always awesome to see somebody get their first, and especially a goal like that there and the way it impacted this game."
The Penguins have a number of tough decisions to make in regards to roster management in the near future, with Kevin Hayes coming back from injured reserve and more young players from the AHL eventually pushing their way up.
Through whatever changes may come, Hallander has shown that he deserves to stick at this level.
THE ASYLUM
Hallander's first goal a shorthanded game-winner
When the Penguins drafted Filip Hallander in the second round in 2018, he described himself as "a two-way forward who likes to go to the net and put in rebounds."
A mere seven years, three months and 23 days later, Hallander finally scored his first NHL goal, in his third stint in the Penguins' organization. And it was exactly the kind of goal he said he could bring to the Penguins all that time ago:
The Penguins and Kings were tied 2-2 in the third period after goals from Evgeni Malkin and Connor Dewar, with Sidney Crosby now serving a penalty for hooking. Rickard Rakell carried the puck into the Kings' end and rang a wrist shot off the left post. Hallander drove to the net and took a whack at the rebound that hit the side of the net. He stuck with it, and his second crack at the rebound beat Anton Forsbeg.
The shorthanded tally broke the tie, and stood as the game-winner in the eventual 4-2 Penguins win here in Los Angeles.
"It feels good," Hallander told me afterward with a smile. "I was waiting for it. It wasn't pretty, but it was pretty important."
Hallander's journey has been a long, interesting path in which he's grown as a player, a person, and learned more about what it takes to play at this level in every step. When he was drafted all those years ago, he estimated that it'd take him two years to be an NHL player. After his first day of development camp in 2021, he confidently declared that he was "here to take a spot."
Hallander having a family at a young age was a driving factor that led him back to Sweden to "find peace" in 2023. He matured, got faster, stronger, developed his scoring touch more and overall became more well-rounded as a player in the two seasons that followed, leading him back to Pittsburgh this summer a new player.
Through this early stretch of the season, Hallander has shown that he can be -- at minimum -- an effective bottom-six player, and that was the case in this win, even aside from the goal.
Hallander's 11:01 was a team-low ice time, but his four shot attempts tied him for fifth on the team. Three of the attempts came off rebounds, including on the sequence that led to his goal. At five-on-five, no Penguin was on the ice for a better share of shot attempts (61.54%) or unblocked shot attempts (66.67%).
Hallander skated in 63 second on the penalty kill, and in that time the Penguins led 5-0 in shot attempts, 5-0 in unblocked shot attempts, and 3-0 in shots.
"I think we were a bit more aggressive today," Hallander said of the penalty-kill. "I think the last game against Anaheim, we maybe sat back a little bit. So today, we were a bit more aggressive, and I think we showed that it was a lot better."
That aggressiveness paid off in Hallander's game-winning first goal.
"It's awesome," Dan Muse said of the goal. "Hallander's been playing really well. He was consistent with just you knew what you were going to get, shift in, shift out, and so now he's getting a little bit more, and he's doing a good job with it. It's always awesome to see somebody get their first, and especially a goal like that there and the way it impacted this game."
The Penguins have a number of tough decisions to make in regards to roster management in the near future, with Kevin Hayes coming back from injured reserve and more young players from the AHL eventually pushing their way up.
Through whatever changes may come, Hallander has shown that he deserves to stick at this level.
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