Smallish prospect sparkles in clutch

LONDON, Ontario — No fewer than 172 players were drafted before the Penguins spent a sixth-round selection on Anton Zlobin in 2012. It’s not all that hard to understand why. After all, Zlobin, a right winger, isn’t especially large (5 feet 11, 209 pounds). There’s nothing special about his skating, either, and he doesn’t have an overpowering shot. Fact is, Zlobin probably would be an easy guy to overlook altogether if he didn’t make a habit of scoring goals at pivotal points in big games. “He has the ability to raise his game in key situations,” Penguins associate general manager Jason Botterill said after his team’s 4-3 victory against Ottawa Saturday at Budweiser Gardens in a prospects tournament. Zlobin opened the scoring with a nice individual effort early in the first period, as he carried the puck out of the right corner and took it to the net before beating Senators goalie Andrew Hammond with a backhander. It won’t go down as one of Zlobin’s more dramatic goals, but it did illustrate his considerable offensive skills. “It’s my dream to play in the NHL,” Zlobin said. “This is a pretty good tournament to show off my potential to the new head coach and the coaching staff.” His talent likely will get him to the NHL someday, even though Zlobin looks to be a long shot to make it in 2014-15. He’s already off to a much better start than a year ago, when Zlobin had to sit out the tournament because of shoulder surgery. That contributed to a slow start in his pro debut — “He wasn’t in great shape” after recovering from his operation, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton coach John Hynes said — and Zlobin played 10 games with Wheeling of the ECHL in addition to the 46 he spent with the Baby Penguins. He scored five times for the Nailers, but just eight with Wilkes-Barre. That changed when the Calder Cup playoffs arrived, however, as Zlobin scored six goals in 16 games. And he didn’t wait long to start producing, ringing up the overtime goal that gave the Baby Penguins a 3-2 victory against Binghamton in their Round 1 opener. “Binghamton is sort of taking the play to us and he gets one opportunity and [puts] the puck in the back of the net,” Botterill said. “Game over. “He has that ability, the skill to capitalize on chances and the ability to raise his game in key situations.” The hockey world at large became aware of that in the Memorial Cup final in 2012, when Zlobin scored both of Val d’Or’s goals in a 2-1 victory against London in the championship. That performance didn’t do much for his draft status, but did seal his reputation for clutch play. “I don’t know why it happens like that, all of the time,” Zlobin said. “That’s my goal, to score big goals and help the team win games.”

NOTES — Jean-Sebastien Dea, who also had two assists, scored the winning goal on a power play with 18 seconds left in regulation. Thomas Kuhnhackl and Josh Archibald had the other Penguins goals. … Penguins goalie Matt Murray stopped 22 of 25 Ottawa shots. … Tristan Jarry is expected to be in goal at 2 p.m. today when the Penguins face Chicago.