It wasn’t exactly a work of art.
Then again, Tanner Howe isn’t exactly Vincent Van Gogh.
He’s more of a Francis Harrington Glidden.
That’s to say the Pittsburgh Penguins forward prospect plays something of an ugly game.
But an effective one.
His first professional goal is testament to that axiom.
Skating for the American Hockey League’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, Howe found the net during a 4-1 home win against the rival Hershey Bears on Feb. 4 in fitting fashion.
Off an offensive zone faceoff win in the left circle, Howe burrowed his way toward the cage, tipped a perimeter shot, saw it enter the cage and stumbled a bit to get away from a defender to celebrate.
HOWIE ‼️‼️ pic.twitter.com/Rtx3CyMEFd
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) February 5, 2026
“It felt really good,” Howe said by phone Monday. “I waited a long time for that one. It’s definitely a relief when that went in.”
Just getting in the lineup is something of a relief for Howe, considering he spent most of the previous nine months rehabilitating a torn ACL in his right knee.
A second-round draft pick (No. 46 overall) in 2024, Howe was enjoying a strong 2024-25 season as a member of the Western Hockey League’s Calgary Hitmen and helped drive that club to the playoffs.
That momentum came to a halt April 12, however, when he injured his knee. By April 23, he underwent surgery.
“It wasn’t a crazy play,” Howe said when asked to explain how he was injured. “Just an awkward play. I kind of chipped it in and kind of got tripped into the boards and went in awkwardly. I don’t know exactly how it happened that way. I got up and I couldn’t put a ton of weight on it. It would give out and I knew something was up.”
After his surgery, Howe spent much of his offseason in Western Pennsylvania rehabilitating while dashing home to Saskatchewan occasionally throughout the summer. By the time the Penguins’ training camp opened in mid-September, he was relegated to skating sessions with other injured players such as forwards Noel Acciari and Rutger McGroarty.
“The first four months, when you’re off the ice for that long, you’re learning how to walk again pretty much,” Howe said. “That part is tough but being in (Pittsburgh) helped a lot. Working with the doctors there and the training staff there was great. After that four months, you get back on the ice and you see your progress coming along and you get to start doing what you love doing.”
Howe, who turned 20 on Nov. 28, made his AHL debut Feb. 1. In six games, he has four points (three goal, one assist).
“The offense he has created is just by getting to the net,” Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins coach Kirk MacDonald said last week. “Great goal last week against Hershey right off the faceoff. His detail there prior to the goal was great. He does a great job of getting to the net front to get that tip.
“He does a lot of the little things as a 20-year-old that a lot don’t do. You can see that. As he gets in better game shape, he’s only going to get better. There’s so much there. It’s so early, but he’s done a great job.”
Howe is still working his way back from a lengthy layoff, fighting through the rust that has built up over nine months. And, by the way, he’s doing so while making the considerable jump from the junior level to the professional ranks.
“I knew I was going to make that jump,” Howe said. “That nine months, I wanted to work as hard as I can to make this jump easier. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, I knew it was going to be hard. I wanted to spend a lot of time at the gym, getting bigger, stronger.”
The modestly-dimensioned Howe (5-foot-11, 183 pounds) could afford to add every bit of size he can get. Especially since he plays a fairly rough-and-tumble game. He cites Florida Panthers forward/provocateur Brad Marchand (5-9, 180) as an ideal archetype to model his game after.
He also understands there is a price to pay physically by employing that approach.
“Playing that hard-style game, going to those dirty areas, rougher areas, obviously, you’re going to get banged up,” Howe said. “You want to limit the injuries. You want to be playing. But it’s the sport. It’s hockey. Things happen. You got to control what you can control.”
For the time being, Howe wants to control how his games looks — cosmetics notwithstanding — with what remains of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s schedule.
“By the end of the season, I want to be playing my best,” Howe said. “Play my best and play consistent. Every game, I’m consistent with how I play and not having any games off. If I can do that, good things are going to come.”