Schultz picks up points slack for injured Letang
Justin Schultz would rather not score in a win than register a couple points in a loss.
That does not, however, preclude him from doing both.
Schultz has points in five of his past six games, including goals in his past two. The past half-dozen contests have seen Schultz contribute six points, nearly as many as he had in the 19 games before (seven) while enjoying a plus-6 swing in plus/minus.
“I feel pretty good,” Schultz said.
“It’s playoff hockey. It’s intense. It’s hard. You’re not going to be on the scoresheet every night. You’re just trying to do whatever it takes to help the team win. As long as we get those wins, I don’t really care about my own points. It’s all about the wins.”
Having Schultz healthy and productive goes a long way toward replacing Kris Letang.
Schultz quarterbacks the No. 1 power play and picked up 20 of his 51 points that way in the regular season. He also punched up a plus-27 rating, better than all but five players league-wide.
In the postseason, Schultz has gotten back to his puckmoving, point-producing ways. Only three defensemen have as many or more than Schultz’s seven points. The Penguins are better for it.
“He’s been a big part of our team all year long,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “He helps us in so many ways. His role on this team has grown dramatically out of necessity. When Tanger went down for as many games as he has for us this year, it’s taken everybody to try and replace the minutes that Tanger plays and the game that Tanger plays.
“I think Schultz in particular, on the offensive side of it, has helped us in so many ways,” Sullivan added.
“He helps us with that first pass, getting out of our end zone. He joins the rush extremely well. I think he’s very good on the power play. He’s helped us there. His contribution is felt throughout the course of our team concept, not just in one particular aspect. His role on this team has grown dramatically in this second part of the season and into the playoffs.”
Sheary ‘unnoticed’
With all of the fuss over Sidney Crosby’s concussion, it may have been easy to forget that Conor Sheary had the same injury.
Don’t worry. Sheary noticed. Not that he minded the anonymity.
“It was funny, the release came out, Sid and I at the same time,” Sheary said. “There’s all these articles on Sid. I kind of went unnoticed, which is a good thing. People weren’t asking me. People weren’t coming to me, which is good. You hate to see him go down, but in this circumstance, it kind of helped me out.”
Sheary admitted that he checks Twitter. News about Crosby was impossible to avoid. That tends to happen when you’re the best in the league and clicking on all cylinders.
“He deserves it,” Sheary said. “He’s the best player in the world. I’m not close to that.”
Murray ‘progressing’
Penguins goalie Matt Murray, a late scratch from Game 1 of the opening round after being injured during warm-ups, went through a long on-ice workout in Cranberry before the Penguins practiced Friday.
He was the only player on the ice and seemed to move around the crease with little difficulty.
“He’s progressing,” Sullivan said. “He’s in full equipment, obviously. … We’re encouraged by how much he’s progressed here over the past couple of days.”
Sullivan added that there is no time frame for Murray to rejoin the lineup.
Capitals drop Ovechkin
Washington coach Barry Trotz, who criticized his top players’ performance during the Penguins’ 3-2 victory Wednesday in Game 4, appeared to back up his words with action Friday.
He dropped left winger Alex Ovechkin, the Capitals captain and franchise player, from the first line to the third.
Ovechkin practiced alongside center Lars Eller and right winger Tom Wilson, while Andre Burakovsky was plugged into Ovechkin’s usual spot with Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie.
Trotz, who has dressed seven defensemen and 11 forwards for the past few games, subsequently suggested to reporters that deploying Ovechkin on the No. 3 line during the workout could be a precursor to double-shifting him Saturday, and that the decision was not rooted in Ovechkin’s Game 4 showing.
Ovechkin’s countryman, Evgeni Malkin, cautioned against reading too much into the move, saying Ovechkin could spring to life at any moment.
“He didn’t play well last game, but he’s dangerous,” Malkin said. “Maybe [Saturday] he steps on the ice and shoots 10 times. We need to be careful every game.”
‘Black Aces’ recalled
The Penguins recalled 11 players to serve as “Black Aces” during their playoff run.
They are goalie Sean Maguire, defensemen David Warsofsky, Derrick Pouliot, Cameron Gaunce and Frank Corrado and forwards Tom Sestito, Dominik Simon, Jean-Sebastien Dea, Garrett Wilson, Kevin Porter and Daniel Sprong.
The first 10 had been with the Penguins’ American Hockey League affiliate in Wilkes-Barre. Sprong had been scheduled to join the Baby Penguins, but their season ended just one day after his junior season in Charlottetown did a week ago.
Those players are eligible to dress for Stanley Cup games but generally practice separately from the main group and only get into games under extreme circumstances.
Ratings soar
Game 4 between the Penguins and Capitals punched up a 20.0 rating in the Pittsburgh market on NBCSN. How does that compare? The Washington market produced a 7.2 rating for Game 4, while the Pittsburgh market averaged a 7.0 for Penguins games on NBC/NBCSN during the regular season.