Kasperi Kapanen providing depth scoring for the Penguins

For most of the last 15+ years, the Pittsburgh Penguins have been carried offensively by two superstars who will be Hall of Famers–Sidney Crosby of Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, and Evgeni Malkin of Magnitogorsk, Russia. However, on Saturday, another Penguins player had a significant offensive performance as Kasperi Kapanen of Kuopio, Finland had a three-goal game.

Hat Trick against St. Louis

Kapanen scored thrice in a 6-2 Penguins win over the St. Louis Blues at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He opened the scoring at 6:58 of the first period from Pierre-Oliver Joseph of Laval, Quebec and Bryan Rust of Pontiac, Michigan. Kapanen then put the Penguins up 3-1 on a power-play goal from Jeff Carter of London, Ontario and Malkin with three minutes and five seconds left in the opening period. Kapanen’s hat trick then came at 10:20 of the second period to put the Penguins up 5-2. It was Kapanen’s second power-play goal of the game. This goal came from Jason Zucker of Newport Beach, California, and Rust.

Second Career Hat Trick

This was Kapanen’s second career National Hockey League hat trick. The first also came with the Penguins. That came in a 5-4 Penguins loss to the Minnesota Wild on November 6, 2021. The hat trick on Saturday would have more meaning to Kapanen than the one 13 months ago, because it came in a Penguin’s win.

2022-23 NHL Statistics

So far in 2022-23, Kapanen has five goals and five assists for 10 points in 16 games. He is a -1 with two power-play points, two game-winning goals, 26 shots on goal, one faceoff win, four blocked shots, 27 hits, three takeaways and six giveaways. Kapanen has five points in his last three games after being a healthy scratch for nine of a 10 game stretch last month.

Penguins in 2022-23

The Penguins are currently in fourth place in the Metropolitan Division with 30 points. They have a record of 13 wins, eight regulation losses, and four losses in extra time.