LOS ANGELES — Rickard Rakell is not a typical penalty killer. The slick winger is a scorer, a top liner, and he tallied a career-high 35 goals last season. Across an ocean, fellow Swede Filip Hallander was also finding his game as a top-line winger.
Thursday night, Rakell earned an unlikely assist on Hallander's first NHL goal in the Penguins ' 4-2 win over the LA Kings .
Thursday night, the Rakell assisted, as Hallander became the latest Penguins rookie to score his first NHL goal this season, following Harrison Brunicke and Ben Kindel.
It was a big goal, too. Despite being outplayed, the Penguins were tied 2-2 in the third period. Rakell seized on an opportunity for a shorthanded two-on-one with Hallander and ripped a shot past LA goalie Anton Forsberg .
But Rakell's shot hit nothing but the crossbar. Hallander had a glorious rebound opportunity but missed the first one, so he had to pound it in on the second chance.
"It feels good. I was waiting for it," said Hallander. "It wasn't pretty, but it was very important, so it was fun … (Rakell) got a good shot away. I had an open net on the first rebound, missed that, and then I just jammed the puck all I could."
Pittsburgh Hockey Now spoke with Hallander Thursday morning after the morning skate before the Penguins faced the LA Kings. It is an easy conversation with Hallander. His Swedish accent highlights his journey, not any language or hockey barrier.
He's a mature 25-year-old. Riding the buses in the AHL for multiple organizations while other prospects pass you up on the depth chart will do that. But he's here, now.
"It's been good, I think. I mean, obviously (I'm) playing different roles and playing with different guys all the time. But yeah, I think it's been okay so far, and trying to get into the rhythm a little bit here."
In the third period, not only did Hallander get his first NHL goal, a feat for which the puck sat beside him in his locker stall while he chatted with reporters, but it was the game-winner, too.
Like Rakell, Hallander had a breakthrough last season. The Penguins' 2018 second-round pick has not found easy success. He was traded twice, first from the Penguins to the Toronto Maple Leafs and then back, before leaving the organization to return home to Sweden for the last two seasons. He had played merely three NHL games, all with the Penguins, before departing.
And then last season with his hometown Timra IK , it all clicked. Hallander scored 26 goals and 53 points in just 51 games, and the time was right to try for the NHL again.
There are no great differences between Hallander now and then, at least according to him, but it's all coming together.
"No (I'm not any different). I mean, I think it was just three years ago, so in that time, I just got a bit more mature on the ice. I think it has been easier to put me in different positions. And I think that's beneficial coming over like this," said Hallander. "If you want to play, you've got to be able to play different roles. And so that's what I'm trying to do, is play good on the PK when I get the chance and play good on the fourth line, and when I get the chance for that–If (coaches) give you some time on the third line, bring some offense if that's possible."
It was a poorly kept secret by the end of the Swedish season that Hallander desired a return to North America and would sign with the Penguins.
Hallander did not have an outstanding training camp. He wasn't even in the lineup on opening night. But general manager Kyle Dubas and coach Dan Muse saw enough–flashes of offense and consistent reliability–to keep him on the final roster.
"I thought he was another guy, who got more and more comfortable (through preseason). And if you look at the later exhibition games, I feel like he was really at the point where he's starting to play his game," said Muse earlier this week. "I think there might have been an adjustment coming back over here. The game is a little bit different."
Unlike Rakell, Hallander is not being cast in a top-line role. Often, he's not even in a scoring role–and as we talked Thursday morning, that was something he readily accepted without complaint, or so much as a grimace.
In fact, he clearly understands the difference in roles when he skates on the fourth line with Blake Lizotte or on the third line with Ben Kindel. The fourth line is about defense, and the third line is about defense with a little more offense.
"You gotta know who you're playing with. And I think my game is pretty simple. It's nothing that sticks out that much, but just trying to be strong on the puck and pretty good on the forecheck," Hallander told us. "So playing with a guy like Ben (Kindel), who has skill, I'm trying to do the dirty work a little bit, and if we play on the fourth line, we play often against good players. So just be responsible."
Hallander's spot in the NHL is not entirely safe, not with injured forwards Rutger McGroarty and Kevin Hayes working towards a return. The Penguins will have decisions to make, and Hallander played a team-low 11:01 on Thursday, in large part due to the ineffectiveness of his line centered by Tommy Novak .
But with a smile, none of that mattered as Hallander recounted his first NHL goal for reporters. It is a story he'll tell many times over the coming years. The culmination of hard work, not over months but years. It was a lot of patience, not over months but years, and he finally got it.
Hallander knows his role, and he's adapting well, even if he doesn't think anything sticks out.
The post 'It Feels Good': Penguins' Filip Hallander on New Roles and What's Different appeared first on Pittsburgh Hockey Now .
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