Odd Couple? Maybe. But Grzelcyk-Karlsson Pairing Gets Good Start

CRANBERRY — Matt Grzelcyk seemed, at first blush, like a peculiar choice to work alongside Erik Karlsson on the Pittsburgh Penguins’ No. 2 defense pairing.

Grzelcyk, after all, had turned in what could charitably be described as some uneven performances in his own end during the early months of this season. (OK, they occasionally ran the gamut from abysmal to awful.)

And while Karlsson’s offensive gifts are going to carry him to the Hockey Hall of Fame eventually, he sometimes looks as if he couldn’t find his way around the defensive zone with the help of a GPS.

That’s why Marcus Pettersson, who has been the Penguins’ most responsible and reliable defenseman in 2024-25, was such a valuable presence alongside Karlsson, his partner for much of this season.

So when Pettersson suffered an unspecified lower-body injury in Ottawa Saturday that will sideline him on a “week to week” basis, it created a gaping void on Karlsson’s left side, and Grzelcyk was pretty much a default choice to fill it, given the other left-shot possibilities. They included:

*** Rookie Owen Pickering who, while he has been quite impressive — though hardly flawless — in his first dozen games at this level, has not progressed so much that he could reasonably be expected to cover for Karlsson’s defensive shortcomings. Besides, Pickering and Kris Letang have meshed pretty nicely on the top pairing.

*** Ryan Graves, who struggled so much through the early portion of the season that he was a healthy scratch for eight of nine games during a recent stretch, despite opening the season as a top-four defenseman.

*** Ryan Shea, who was a healthy scratch for the four games that preceded the Penguins’ 3-2 overtime victory against Los Angeles Tuesday night at PPG Paints Arena and whose professional ceiling likely will be on a third pairing.

Having assessed his options, coach Mike Sullivan put Grzelcyk with Karlsson for the game against the Kings. And, perhaps to the surprise of many, was rewarded with solid showings by both.

Neither was on the ice for either of the Los Angeles goals, and the one Grzelcyk scored off a Sidney Crosby feed at 14:25 of the third period put the game into overtime. Then, just 1:44 into the extra period, Rickard Rakell deflected a Karlsson shot past Kings goalie Darcy Kuemper for the game-winner.

So while it’s far too early to pronounce the Grzelcyk-Karlsson tandem a success, let alone to predict whether it will remain intact for as long as Pettersson is unavailable, the early returns couldn’t have been much more encouraging.

“I thought that for most of the night, they were pretty good,” Sullivan said after practice at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex Wednesday. “They’re both really good puck-movers. They helped us get out of our end. Obviously, (Grzelcyk) gets a huge goal for us. I thought (Karlsson) was pretty solid all night.”

In addition to their points, Karlsson and Grzelcyk combined for eight shots on goal and were first and second, respectively, in ice time among the Penguins, with Karlsson’s 27:02 leading the way.

“We tried to be good in transition and limit them in our own zone, and I think (Karlsson) did a good job of moving pucks pretty clean,” Grzelcyk said after Wednesday’s practice at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex.

He added that, “obviously, there’s a lot more work to do, but (Karlsson’s) really fun to play with.”

Perhaps, but it likely can be stressful for his partner at times, given that no one is going to suggest that Karlsson’s defensive work invites comparisons to that of, say, Rod Langway. Consequently, it is incumbent on his partner to commit to a style that allows Karlsson to take offensive risks and be guilty of some defensive lapses.

“I probably try to be a little more defensively mindful,” Grzelcyk said. “(Karlsson) is very good at jumping up on the play. Definitely, at times (I) just try to stay back a little more and be his support back there.”

In something of a twist, Grzelcyk scored his first goal of the season on a night when his focus figured to be primarily on defense.

With time winding down in the third period and Los Angeles holding a 2-1 lead, Crosby backhanded a cross-ice pass to Grzelyk, who was at the top of the left circle. Grzelcyk skated a few strides into the circle, then snapped a shot past Kuemper to tie the game.

“Sid made an unbelievable play,” Grzelcyk said. “He found me all alone. That play was all him.”

Well, not really, since the pass wouldn’t have mattered much if Grzelcyk hadn’t turned it into a goal. An important one, at that.

And, by Grzelcyk’s reckoning, one that was long overdue.

“I kind of felt like it was a long time coming,” he said. “I got a good amount of chances, so it was nice to see one go in the back of the net.”

Probably about as good as it felt to not see any go into the net at the other end of the ice when he and Karlsson were out there.