Rickard Rakell Struggling
After 11 games, Rickard Rakell has been struggling to score his first goal of the season. In those 11 games, he has 24 shots, three assists, and is a +0.
Rakell is heavily relied on as a Penguin as a top-six forward. In his two-and-a-half seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins, he has 76 points. Not having a goal this season is clearly affecting his confidence time in and time out so far throughout his season. Once Rakell finally gets that first goal, he should be much more confident, which may even lead to a hot strike.
Line Change The Solution?
In order to get a spark out of Rakell, head coach Mike Sullivan should move Rakell to the first line in place of Bryan Rust. This is a move Sullivan has made before, and it should happen or at least be taken into consideration.
Rust had a down season last year, having 46 points and a +/- of -4, and the only other time he had a negative +/- was his rookie season in 2014-15. However, this season is a different story, as he has six goals and five assists in 11 games, making him a point-per-game player. With guys like Evgeni Malkin and key offseason addition Reilly Smith, who is scorching hot, Rust’s play should not drop significantly or at all for that matter.
Rakell being bumped to the first line would benefit him tremendously for a few reasons. One of them being the increased role and minutes may bump his confidence. The other reason is he will be playing with one of the best playmakers of not only this generation but of all-time in Sidney Crosby. Crosby is 15th all-time in assists but is just seven assists shy of passing Doug Gilmore for 14th.
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Next Opportunity
The next opportunity for Rakell to get his first goal of the season is Thursday night at 10:30 PM EST against the Los Angeles Kings. Luckily for the Penguins, the Kings have a back-to-back Wednesday night against the Vegas Golden Knights and then the Penguins the following night.
The Kings may start backup goalie Pheonix Copley, who has a goals-against average of 4.98 and a save percentage of .788. If Copley starts, Rakell will have a good chance of putting the puck in the back of the net.
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All stats courtesy of Hockey-Reference.