Ryan Graves ends long scoring drought, newcomers help surging Penguins beat Blues

Matt Vensel, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Mar 13, 2025

Published in Hockey

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PITTSBURGH — The Penguins in Thursday’s 5-3 victory over the St. Louis Blues at PPG Paints Arena got scoring from unexpected places, none more so than the stick of Ryan Graves.

Graves ended his long scoring drought when he tallied his first goal of the 2024-25 campaign. Two other players later got their first goals as members of the Penguins.

The win made it three in a row for the Penguins and resurgent starter Tristan Jarry.

Graves got his goal 2:17 into the game. Blake Lizotte’s line won a battle and got the puck to the point, and Graves’ shot through a screen beat Jordan Binnington clean.

The defenseman pumped both his fists in celebration when the red light came on.

It was his first goal in 47 games this season. The last time that Graves scored was in a loss in Las Vegas on Jan. 20, 2024. To put that in perspective, among those playing for the Penguins that night were Jansen Harkins, Chad Ruhwedel and Colin White.

Graves’ career-long scoring slump lasted 73 games. He now has 32 goals in the NHL.

Thursday turned out to be a big night for blue-liners. Graves’ third-pair partner, newcomer Conor Timmins, gave the Penguins a 2-0 lead during the second period.

The right-shot defenseman showed off some puck skill when he plucked the puck off the right wall, swerved toward the middle and fooled Binnington with a wrister.

For Timmins, acquired from Toronto last week, that was his first goal for Pittsburgh.

The Blues pulled back within one goal when Zack Bolduc scored on the power play. Prior to that, Jarry had stopped their first 23 shots, including several difficult stops.

Connor Dewar, the other deadline pickup from Toronto, restored the two-goal lead with his first in a Penguins sweater. Lizotte set up Dewar with an awesome pass.

Early in the third period, St. Louis got another goal on the power play, this one from Dylan Holloway. Pittsburgh responded with a Rickard Rakell goal, making it 4-2.

Binnington got the hook after that. He stopped 15 of 19 shots before he was pulled.

Alexey Toropchenko split Graves and Erik Karlsson and buried the third Blues goal. But Rakell sealed a win when he hit an empty net, his second goal of the night.

Around the boards

— The first of Rakell’s two tallies gave him 30 goals on the season. This is the winger’s first 30-goal season since 2017-18, when he was a member of the Anaheim Ducks.

— Thursday was the first time since early February that the Penguins suited up the same 20 guys in consecutive games. They had made lineup changes in 12 straight.

— Jarry started his third straight. The last time that happened was early December.

— The Penguins on Thursday signed Avery Hayes, a 22-year-old forward who plays for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, to a two-year entry-level deal that kicks in next season.

— Prospect Chase Pietila, who signed his entry-level contract with Pittsburgh earlier this week, was named the CCHA Defensive Defenseman of the Year on Wednesday.

— Thursday was Pride Night at PPG Paints Arena. Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust were among the players who supported the cause with rainbow stick tape in warmups.

Coming up next

The Penguins are scheduled to practice on Friday in Cranberry ahead of Saturday’s home matchup versus the New Jersey Devils. That game has a 3 p.m. start time.