The Pittsburgh Penguins’ Carl Hagelin has not yet managed to score against his old team, the New York Rangers. Now would be a really great time for him to figure out a way to do that.
Late last week I ordered a Carl Hagelin jersey in beautiful, beautiful Pittsburgh gold. Since clicking “submit” on that order, I’ve felt like a little kid on Christmas: incredibly excited, and incredibly impatient.
It hasn’t arrived yet. Realistically, it’s been about three days since the order was processed and after all, it had to be custom-made. I should probably just chill out a little bit.
But you see, I really want it to somehow get here before tomorrow. I want to wear it on a critical game day and – more than anything – wear it to my history class so I can antagonize that know-it-all kid who wore a Mats Zuccarello Rangers jersey last week.
Petty? Oh, absolutely. But, hey, this is the playoffs.
When the jersey does get here, I will be bouncing-off-the-walls excited. But that could be tomorrow evening; heck, that could be Wednesday – which is basically a century away from now. It’ll be too little, too late. (At least for me to harass the Zuccarello fan).
I’m a little bit worried that my new jersey’s namesake is in the same boat. Carl Hagelin himself just has not been able to make an impact against his former team, the New York Rangers, this season. And now, more than ever, we need him to step up to the plate.
It certainly hasn’t been for lack of trying that he hasn’t been able to solve the Rangers. In earlier games his line of Phil Kessel and Nick Bonino has absolutely dominated them, and his aggressive play was a pretty big reason why. But Hagelin himself just hasn’t been able to.
He’s surely got a chip on his shoulder from the trade that sent him out of Manhattan not even a year ago. Wouldn’t it be so fitting, the perfect karma, if this year he could bury the series winner and eliminate New York just as he did to us last year?
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Hagelin has been integral to the Pittsburgh Penguins since his acquisition, scoring six game-winning goals. But in the two games in this series so far, he hasn’t picked up a single point and is a -2.
Now, the second game was abysmal for everyone wearing black and gold. We’ve established that. Hagelin was no exception but he can’t bear the brunt of the blame by any means; his linemate, Kessel, was at least the one who got the Penguins on the board.
Hagelin spent several seasons shooting constantly on one of the greatest goalies in the world, Henrik Lundqvist. He has to know where his weakest spots are, what kind of plays throw him for a loop. If we’ve got that kind of inside knowledge in the locker room, let’s use it. Please.
I’m sure this is still a little weird for Hagelin, being on the Pittsburgh side rather than New York in their third straight playoff meeting. But if anything, how close the Rangers came to winning it all in those past two postseasons should have given him a taste for playoff wins, and even more drive to move forward.
I would argue that his acquisition is tied with the hiring of Mike Sullivan for the most pivotal moment of the Penguins’ season. Sullivan’s influence behind the bench has been astounding, but Hagelin’s play on the ice and presence in the room has too.
Maybe heading back to Madison Square Garden will help Hags get his groove back. If he has something to prove to his old team, he surely has something to prove to the thousands of fans in MSG who used to cheer his name but will now probably boo him whenever he touches the puck.
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So let’s look on the bright side. His play can only improve from where it’s at now, and as long as he doesn’t accidentally score an own-goal to eliminate us again this year I can’t see him ever playing poorly enough to ruin our chances.
The Pens’ resilience this season has showed us that more often than not, great comebacks will happen. It won’t be too little, too late.
Well, maybe it will be for my jersey, and maybe my chances to pester that kid will be out the window. But it’s definitely not too late for the real Hagelin to pester the real Rangers where it matters, out on center ice.