After recently being called up from the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, forward Radim Zohorna is already making his presence known on the NHL stage again.
Replacing the waived (and subsequently re-assigned) Jansen Harkins, Zohorna was the first man Pittsburgh called from within their organization as they tried to change things up in the bottom six.
The bottom six was heavily for its awful lack of offensive production. The unit as a whole had 1 assist in 4 games going into the game against St. Louis, coming from Lars Eller in the season opener.
Since then, it was near radio silence from anyone there, and with new management keeping a close eye on the on-ice product, the Penguins have shown so far that they aren’t unwilling to make changes if they need to.
It was part of the advantage of having so many depth signings in free agency this past summer. If someone isn’t working, plug someone else in and give them a look. And that’s exactly what the Penguins have done with Zohorna.
An impressive training camp had many fans thinking they would see Big Z back on the NHL roster for the Pens. The Czechia native had previously played 25 games for the team during the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons combined.
But somewhat surprisingly, he did not make the team’s opening night roster, and instead was assigned to the WBS Pens before the season started.
However, it’s better late than never as they say, and now that Zohorna is back, he’s making an immediate impact.
Saturday night in St. Louis, Zohorna scored in his season debut for Pittsburgh.
Zohorna is in the right place at the time time, and is able to jam the puck behind Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington.
Unfortunately, it was a goal that ended up being too little too late. Pittsburgh was down 4-1 at the time of this goal, and Zohorna’s marker to make it 4-2 would be the last goal of the night, sealing a 4-2 win for St. Louis.
Despite the poor effort (one that had Mike Sullivan rather upset), Zohorna’s impact right off the jump is a needed breath of fresh air for this team.
Zohorna’s goal not only boosted the team, but the numbers of the players around him. Drew O’Connor notched his first point of the season, and Lars Eller just his second of the season, both assisting on Zohorna’s goal.
Obviously an incredibly small sample size, but the impact of Big Z is already there and it can be felt.
It’s going to be these kind of changes that the Penguins are going to need if they hope to turn things around. It’s been a harsh start to the season, one that has them 2-3-0 and looking good for just a handful of periods so far this year.
But for Zohorha, he’s done his part so far. Hopefully he can continue to be a force to be reckoned with in the Penguins’ bottom six. They so desperately need one.
(Featured image from Pittsburgh Hockey Now)
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