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Connor Dewar celebrates his short-handed goal Monday in Seattle.
The Penguins are leaving Seattle with two points in the standings after their 6-3 win over the Kraken today here at Climate Pledge Arena, a hard-fought win that saw depth scoring, diligent defense and solid goaltending from Stuart Skinner.
The most impactful player, though, was undoubtedly Connor Dewar, who scored twice — once short-handed, and once into the empty-net — and was otherwise a momentum-driver and key on the penalty-kill.
A Parker Wotherspoon shot from the point opened the scoring, but then a Brett Kulak hooking penalty put the Penguins on the penalty-kill less than two minutes later. And as the Kraken were attempting to skate the puck into the Penguins’ end on the ensuing power play, Dewar forced a turnover and turned it into a shorthanded breakaway, beating Joey Daccord one-on-one to give the Penguins a 2-0 lead:
“I poked it away at the blue line and had a bit of a half breakaway,” he said. “I pulled away and shot glove-side and it went in.”
Still, the Penguins weren’t entirely pleased with their start in this one. The Kraken started to push as the first period went on and finished the period ahead 13-12 in shot attempts and had the only two high-danger chances, resulting in them controlling 60.3% of the expected goals. Ben Meyers made it a one-goal game after pressure in the Penguins’ end resulted in the Kraken winning a board battle and getting a scoring chance out of it.
“I don’t think we played our best first period,” Connor Clifton said. “But you know what? We had a one-goal lead. So we’re obviously feeling good.”
Dewar’s goal, at that point, was the difference-maker.
The Kraken tied the game in the second period when Ryan Lindgren scored on a rebound opportunity, but Brett Kulak’s goal off a faceoff regained the lead. Justin Brazeau scored early in the third period with a wrist shot off an Anthony Mantha drop pass, and Seattle’s Eeli Tolvanen again made it a one-goal game with a power-play goal. Rickard Rakell’s late goal quelled Seattle’s momentum, and then Dewar’s empty-net goal from way back in the Penguins’ own end sealed the win.
Something Dan Muse said led to the Penguins’ success here was that there weren’t too many “heavy momentum shifts.” Dewar and the fourth line were a part of that, driving momentum in the Penguins’ favor.
In Dewar’s 8:15 of five-on-five time, the Penguins led 8-3 in shot attempts (72.73%), 8-2 in unblocked attempts (80%), 4-1 in shots (80%) and controlled 84.54% of the expected goals — all figures that either led the team or were second by a small margin to one of his linemates.
Dewar led all of the Penguins’ skaters in shorthanded ice time in the win with 3:49, and the only goal scored in either direction in that time was his own.
“He plays those hard minutes,” Clifton said of Dewar. “Our fourth line is — I don’t think it’s just in the room that realizes — but they’re special. They’re so unique, and they play so hard and so honest. So when they’re on the ice, you know you’re getting the most honest effort.”
That effort isn’t new to Dewar, but he’s getting rewarded offensively more than ever. His two goals tonight brought him to 11 in 48 games, tying his previous career high set in 74 games with the Wild and Maple Leafs in 2023-24. His 19 points set a new career high, surpassing his total of 18 in 81 games with the Wild in 2022-23.Â
“He’s always working,” Muse said of Dewar. “I mean, it’s everybody on that line, but he’s a guy who I can’t speak enough about him and the impact that he’s made this year, just the way he plays the game. Everything’s hard. He’s always playing the right way. Love it when I see him get rewarded there on the offensive side, too. He’s got skill. I mean, you see it there on the shorthanded goal. You’ve seen it throughout the year. But I think his offense has usually started with just doing all the right things there away from the puck.”
An ideal road trip for the Penguins would look like them coming back to Pittsburgh with six more points in the standings … and maybe, even, a new contract for Dewar.
The Penguins’ entire fourth line of Blake Lizotte, Noel Acciari and Dewar was set to hit unrestricted free agency this summer, until Lizotte was signed to a a three-year extension with a $2.25 million cap hit, giving him a raise on his current rate of $1.85 million
At 28 years old, that’s a good time and rate to lock Lizotte in for the future, especially with a rising cap. With Acciari being 34 years old, it’s tough to imagine he gets re-signed, especially with the number of bottom-six types in the pipeline pushing for spots.
Dewar is still just 26 years old, and has the lowest salary on his line at $1.1 million. He still has a lot of room for growth, especially offensively, as we’re seeing with him continuing to take steps forward this season.
If the Penguins are going to re-sign any of their pending free agents, Dewar should be next on the list. If he’s given a multi-year deal akin to Lizotte’s, even with a more substantial rase, that should be a no-brainer. Looking ahead to the future, that line could be completed with a rookie like Tristan Broz or Avery Hayes and give the Penguins a fourth line for years to come that is reliable defensively, brings energy, can chip in offensively and kill penalties.
Today was evidence for how much of an impact that can make toward a win.