Egor Chinakhov didn’t light up the scoresheet in the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 3-2 shootout win over the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday night, but he was one of the players driving the game anyway.
While goalie Sergei Murashov grabbed the spotlight with a strong performance, Chinakhov kept showing up in all the ways that matter before the puck goes in. He was creating chances, forcing turnovers, winning races to loose pucks and making an impact almost every shift. For the Penguins, he was their best non-goalie even if the box score barely hinted at it.
That’s been the story lately, too. Chinakhov’s season line - three goals and two assists in 15 games - doesn’t really match the way he’s been playing or the expectations that came with how he finished the 2025-26 season. But the underlying numbers keep pointing in the same direction: this looks like a player who is close to breaking through.
The speed is obvious. So is the shot. And the chances are coming in bunches.
Among Penguins skaters with at least 100 minutes of 5-on-5 ice time, only Nicholas Robertson and Rickard Rakell are averaging more shots on goal per 60 minutes. Nobody on the team is generating more total shot attempts than Chinakhov’s 19.1 per 60, and nobody is really close - Rakell is the only other Penguin above 16.
The rush game has been even more striking. Chinakhov leads the Penguins in chances off the rush at 1.27 per 60 minutes, with Rakell second at 0.46 and Ben Kindel third at 0.32. Across the league, his 5-on-5 shot attempts per 60 rank 13th, and his rush attempts sit first overall.
That’s the profile you want from a player with his tools. The speed is creating looks.
The shot is getting used. The problem is that the finishing touch hasn’t arrived yet.
Some of that comes down to bad breaks. He had one goal wiped out earlier this season on a borderline goalie interference call, and he’s already rung at least three or four posts. One of them on Wednesday apparently echoed all the way through the San Jose area.
The numbers back up the sense that the goals have been slow to come for reasons that may not last. Chinakhov has scored on just 4.35 percent of his shots on goal at 5-on-5.
Before this season, his career rate was 12.7 percent. In his worst full seasons in Columbus, he never finished below 7.8 percent, and only once did he dip under 8 percent.
If he were finishing at his normal career rate on the same number of shots, he’d have two more goals already. That would put him on a 28-goal pace over a full season instead of the 17-goal pace he’s on now.
And that’s only at 5-on-5. There’s also a case for more power-play time, where he already has two goals on just three shots on goal.
The bigger point is simple: production doesn’t always arrive on schedule in the NHL. Effort can be steady.
Defense can be steady. Shot generation can be steady.
Goal-scoring? Not so much.
That’s especially true for players outside the very top tier. A scorer doesn’t usually pile up goals in a neat, even rhythm.
It comes in bursts - a couple in one game, then a dry spell, then another burst. The cold stretches only feel louder when they happen early in the season and the stat line still looks thin.
That’s where Chinakhov is right now. The process is there.
The chances are there. The shot is there.
The Penguins just need the puck to start going in, and he needs to keep trusting what he’s doing.
In Other News...
Hurricanes Linked To A Major Trade Target They May Not Control
The Penguins blue line has become part of a larger trade conversation as teams around the league look for help, and Erik Karlsson keeps surfacing as one of the more intriguing names. Toronto would like to add a defenseman but is boxed in by the salary cap, which makes any move complicated unless it can clear money first. For Pittsburgh, that keeps Karlsson in the middle of a market that is still trying to sort out who can actually afford to do business.
Among the clubs kicking tires, Carolina has been tied most closely to Karlsson, which is enough to keep the rumor mill humming in Pittsburgh. But any path forward is not as simple as a team deciding it wants him and calling it a day, because the veteran defenseman still has say in where he goes. Until that part of the equation is settled, the interest around him remains just that - interest. [Read more 🡒]
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Hershey finished the rally in overtime to steal a 4-3 victory, leaving the Penguins to sort through a collapse that will sting for a while. Taylor Gauthier was busy throughout the night, and Cal Petersen held up his end for the Bears as they found a way to turn a milestone game into a memorable comeback, one Wilkes-Barre/Scranton would have liked to close out much differently. [Read more 🡒]
Penguins Practice Sent A Clear Message About A Roster Shakeup
Dan Muse used practice to reshuffle the Penguins lines, and the message from the morning skate was hard to miss. Rookie Sergei Murashov was being singled out as having secured a roster spot, giving the club a little clarity at a time when the lineup has been in flux and every adjustment feels like it carries a little extra weight.
Elsewhere on the ice, Bryan Rust and Elmer Soderblom were both on injured ice before practice, with Rust skating but not at full intensity. The broader picture around the Penguins is still changing too, with trade chatter continuing to swirl around Erik Karlsson and other names around the league, leaving the roster conversation very much alive even as one young player appears to have carved out his place. [Read more 🡒]