There’s a Reason Rakell Has Regained His Scoring Touch

Rickard Rakell is, by nature and by trade, a goal-scorer.

Not a perennial contender for the Rocket Richard Trophy, to be sure, but a guy who can be counted on to produce on a fairly regular basis.

Has been since he broke into the NHL with Anaheim during the 2012-13 season.

Well, until last season, anyway.

That’s when Rakell’s scoring touch all but deserted him. He didn’t get his first goal of 2023-24 until Dec. 23 a year ago, in the Penguins’ 32nd game.

Sure, his drought included a 12-game absence because of injury, but he was in the lineup for nearly a quarter of a season before getting No. 1.

That sparked a brief surge, as Rakell scored five times in eight games, but it was followed by a 15-game dry spell.

“It was just a tough start for me last year,” Rakell said. “I think it was a lot in my head.”

By the time the Penguins’ season ended with a 5-4 loss on Long Island on April 17, Rakell had accumulated a modest total of 15 goals — one of them in that finale against the Islanders — in 70 games.

If it wasn’t the most disappointing and frustrating season of his pro career, it was at least a medalist.

But it’s looking like it also was very much an aberration.

Rakell had another noteworthy Dec. 23 this year, too, but for a decidedly different reason.

He scored in the Penguins’ 7-3 victory over Philadelphia Monday, giving him 16 in 36 games. That essentially is double his output from 2023-24, and suggests he’s quite capable of surpassing his personal best of 34, which he set with Anaheim in 2017-18.

“I think (Rakell’s ceiling) is pretty high,” linemate Bryan Rust said. “He’s a guy who’s scored a lot of goals in this league, so I think he can keep on scoring.”

Rackell leads the Penguins in goals — Rust is second with 15 — and owns a share of 14th place in the NHL goal-scoring race. And it’s hardly out of the question that he will be able to climb in that ranking.

Fact is, he would have 17 goals and a piece of 10th place in the league if another goal he got against the Flyers had not been disallowed because a video review determined the play had been offside.

After Rakell put a shot past Flyers goalie Samuel Ersson from near the right hash at 7:14 of the opening period for the goal that was waved off, he needed less than five minutes to get one that counted. He took a feed from Rust before burying a shot from below the left hash.

“Now, I’m comfortable being around the net and just trying to find open ice,” he said. “I play with good players. They find me.”

That’s not an empty, stale platitude, considering that Rakell’s center, Sidney Crosby, has tied Mario Lemieux’s franchise record with 1,033 assists. Then again, with the way Rakell has been scoring, he’s worth looking for out there.

“He’s playing with confidence,” Rust said. “He’s moving his feet really well. That’s helping him to get to open space and get those chances. He’s always been an unbelievable finisher. He could always make really good plays.”

Well, most of the time, anyway. But Rakell has moved past the misery that was most of 2023-24, even though he still can’t fully explain why it played out that way.

“There’s no excuse,” he said. “If I knew, I would tell you. Honestly. But I don’t know. … I felt good at the start of last year, too. It just didn’t work out, and it was an uphill battle. Now, it’s just probably … don’t squeeze the stick as much anytime you get a scoring chance.”

Which is part of the reason he’s been raising that stick so often during the past 2 1/2 months.