The videoboard here at PPG Paints Arena cut to Boko Imama in the second period of the Penguins’ 6-3 win over the Blue Jackets tonight, several minutes after he had scored his first goal with the team.
The crowd erupted into cheers. Imama, sitting in the bench, glanced up and tried to keep a straight face as the fans recognized his efforts.
Before long, he was awarded the No. 1 star. His goal stood to be the game-winner, and he added to that with three hits, two blocked shots and a fight. The fans again gave him a loud ovation as he skated out and saluted the crowd for the three stars announcement.
“It was great,” Imama said of the recognition he received throughout the night. “Even after the fight, I felt the crowd was getting into it. And to follow it up with a goal, I feel, is the cherry on top. It was nice.”
When Kyle Dubas was speaking about the Penguins’ trade deadline moves two weeks ago, he brought up Imama. Unprompted, he spoke of how the team thought it was “important” to have Imama around for the remainder of the season because of his ability to bring life and energy to a group.
This game was the perfect example.
The Penguins had a 1-0 lead midway through the period courtesy of an Evgeni Malkin goal when 6-foot-1, 221-pound Imama dropped the gloves with 6-foot-1, 226-pound Blue Jackets forward Mathieu Olivier. Nothing Olivier did prompted the fight — he didn’t hit any of Imama’s teammates or anything like that. But Imama was the one that initiated the fight, and he did it to send a message. Not so much to the Blue Jackets, but rather his own teammates:
“Yeah, I definitely asked for it,” Imama said. “I want to let my teammates know, and everybody know that’s what I’m here to do. Play that physical game. I’m just willing to do whatever it takes to help the team win.”
Jody Shelley, a former NHL enforcer himself and now a broadcaster for his former Blue Jackets team, came down to the Penguins’ locker room afterward to show respect and shake Imama’s hand.
The game opened up after the bout. Noel Acciari doubled the lead with a backhand finish of a Blake Lizotte setup, but Boone Jenner responded 16 seconds later with a redirect. Rickard Rakell regained the two-goal lead 46 seconds later.
The Blue Jackets brought the game back within one early into the second period after Conor Timmins was attempting to sweep away a rebound after Alex Nedeljkovic made a save, and accidentally knocked the puck into his own net.
It was Imama who regained the two-goal lead, and scored the goal that stood to be the game-winner with a well-placed one-timer from the left circle:
“(Kevin Hayes), he’s the one patrolling the line,” Imama explained. “He just pretty much told us what he wanted to happen, I just kind of followed his direction. He was right. The puck just came out, a perfect pass from (Danton Heinen). And all I had to do was just to put it on target.”
It was Imama’s first goal with the Penguins but his second in 29 NHL games, with his first coming in his second game with the Coyotes in April 2022.
JOE SARGENT / GETTY
Boko Imama celebrates his first goal as a Penguin on Friday at PPG Paints Arena
Imama is immensely popular in the Penguins’ room. Yeah, the players appreciate what he brings in physicality, and his willingness to stick up for anybody. But he’s also incredibly likable just as a human being. He’s always in a great mood, always having fun. He gets along with everyone. Speaking from personal experience, he’s the only player to ever find me the day after I wrote a story about him to thank me for doing so (it made his mother happy, he said) and he’s the only player who regularly greets me by name when I see him.
The Penguins’ bench erupted when Imama found the back of the net. It was a big goal in the context of the game, but they were perhaps more happy for Imama to just get rewarded because of the person he is.
“He’s a terrific person,” Mike Sullivan said. “He brings so much positive energy to the rink everyday. It’s hard not to smile when you’re around him. He’s just an enthusiastic person. He loves hockey, loves being at the rink, he loves being part of a team. He loves being a Penguin. His energy is contagious. He’s just a great teammate. You could see it on the bench when he scored, just the raw emotion of his teammates on the bench. They were pretty excited for him. He’s a great kid. He brings great energy to our team.”
Rakell smiled when I asked him about Imama’s night.
“Super happy for him,” Rakell told me. “He’s doing everything he can to do something for our team. Every shift, he’s doing what he’s supposed to do. Every practice. It’s fun to see how much efforts he put in every day to fight for a spot. He’s always positive, cheering guys on.”
Imama kept giving it his all as the game went on. There was a moment late in the second period when the Penguins were pinned in their own end, and Imama’s stick broke. He laid out and blocked a pair of shots, doing what he could to get the Penguins to the end of the period. He took it a smidge too far and got an interference penalty in the final seconds, but his effort was hard to miss.
Imama is only on a one-year contract and will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. For players like him who don’t have a contract for next season, they might put forth a little extra effort in this stretch, trying to audition for free agency. But for Imama, he’s never not in high gear.
“Even if I had a contract for next year, I’d show up with the same mindset, same attitude,” he said. “It’s just the player I am.”
Next year will be Imama’s ninth as a professional. The Penguins are his fourth organization, and the 14 games he’s played in Pittsburgh is already the most NHL time any organization has ever given him. He’s hoping that what he can show over these next few weeks is enough to earn him another contract here.
“These 12 games are not just any other games for me,” he said. “Every day, I just take it day-by-day, work as hard as I can. My goal is to definitely be back as a Penguin.”
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