Defenseman Cole is aiming to keep his opening-night lineup spot

and really challenged us to compete, I think a lot of guys stepped up and that’s when we started playing great hockey, when we were challenged.”

Initially, that wasn’t how it played out for Cole last year. He struggled mightily through the first half of the season, putting up a minus18 over his first 45 games. Cole started the season playing primarily on the Penguins top pairing with Kris Letang, a role he now admits didn’t really suit him.

“I think that I was trying to contribute too much offensively when those plays weren’t there,” Cole said. “I was trying to force too much. I was playing a lot with Tanger [Letang], playing a lot with Sid [Sidney Crosby], playing a lot with Geno [Evgeni Malkin], really trying to keep up with those guys and do what they do. I think I was getting myself into trouble.”

Starting in late January, Cole was a healthy scratch for 11 consecutive games. As he watched from the press box, he reevaluated how he could best fit into the Penguins system when he returned.

His conclusion: Focusing on his defense, shutting down opposing forwards, and trying to kill penalties with the best in the league.

“It’s not going to be something where I’m playing like Tanger, leading the rush and running the first power play,” Cole said. “That’s not going to be it, and I’m fine with that.

“Being able to go out there on the first [penalty-kill], kill a minute and a half out of a two-minute power play, try to get this PK to the top five, top three, best in the league, that’s something I really take a lot of pride in.”

That’s basically what happened for Cole when he returned to the lineup last season. He finally found some consistency playing alongside Justin Schultz, and the duo allowed just 1.36 goals against per 60 minutes in the playoffs, lowest among any of the Penguins’ regular defensive pairings.

Rather than try to generate offense himself, Cole found he could best help the Penguins scoring attack by staying true to his defensive game.

“I think how I can best serve those guys is to do exactly what I should be doing, as far as playing really strong defensively, getting the puck back as quickly as possible,” he said. “I think that’s what’s actually going to be more beneficial as opposed to trying to throw backhand saucers and spinoramas.”

Cole wants to make it clear, though, being a defense-first defenseman doesn’t mean an absence of hockey skill. He is, after all, a former first-round draft pick who has had to play a twoway role in the past.

That skill might just manifest itself in a more defensive way.

“There’s still times where, in the [defensive] zone, I’m going to have to make a quick pull and slide it to the middle guy, which is a skill play,” Cole said. “It might not be a spinorama off the crossbar like Geno, but it’s still a skill play.”

As for the offensive end, Cole said it’s more about picking his spots. He’s not going to jump up and join every rush, but if presented with a good opportunity, he can still do so. Like when he got a wide-open rebound in the first period of Game 4 of the Stanley Cup final in June.

“And buried it,” Cole said of the goal that put the Penguins up, 1-0, in that game, his first score in 105 games.

He also was on the ice when time expired in the Penguins’ Cup-clinching Game 6 win, and hopes to be there when they raise their Stanley Cup banner at the opener next month. Cole knows it’s not a guarantee, but he also knows what it’s like to be the odd-man out of the lineup, and it’s not something he’s looking to relive.

“When I was taken out of the lineup those couple of games, it certainly caused me to step back, kind of reevaluate like, ‘OK, what do I need to get back to contribute to this team?’” Cole said.

“That’s certainly never a situation you want to be in, but I think we’re all excited to take the challenge and run with it.”