‘It’s nice to see him get rewarded on the score sheet’
Tracking growth of Petterson as an offensive player
NEW YORK — Marcus Pettersson could hardly hold back a smile after the Penguins’ Friday afternoon practice in Manhattan.
Sure, it was because he was so enamored with the site of the Penguins’ workout, Chelsea Piers, which featured breathtaking views of the Hudson River from the rink’s side boards. Nobody would blame Pettersson if his seemingly ever-content disposition was due to the birth of his first child just under a month ago, either.
But in what has been something of a breakout season for Pettersson, he’s got plenty of reasons to be grinning ear to ear about how he’s impacted the Penguins’ offense, too.
“I just think I’m shooting the puck a lot, trying to get the puck to the net and good things will happen,” Pettersson said. “That’s something I’ve been trying to do more is getting the puck to the net.”
So far, it’s worked out brilliantly in his fifth year with the club. In the Penguins’ 5-1 win against the Philadelphia Flyers on March 11, Pettersson’s two assists set a new career high for points, a total to which he’s since added. The advanced metrics have supported Pettersson all season, considering he’s got the best expected-goals-for percentage of any Penguins defenseman who has skated in at least 10 games this season, per Natural Stat Trick.
But in the past handful of games, Pettersson has elevated his play, at least as far as the box score is concerned. In the Penguins’ past 11 games, he’s racked up 10 points, including nine of his 23 assists on the season.
“It’s nice to see him get rewarded on the score sheet,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “Earlier in the season, I still feel as though Marcus was helping us generate offense, even though it wasn’t on the score sheet, so to speak. So seeing him get rewarded is great.”
Sullivan also pointed out Pettersson’s improvements haven’t just been on the offensive side of the ice, complimenting him on the development of his two-way game. Still, it’s hard to ignore Pettersson’s offensive contributions, especially since being partnered with Kris Letang mid-game during a comefrom-behind win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on March 7.
In a small sample size of just 76:52 of ice time, that duo has dominated in the past week and change; the Penguins have scored seven goals with Pettersson and Letang on the ice while allowing none in 5-on-5 play.
“It’s awesome. I mean, he’s a world-class player,” Pettersson said of playing with Letang. “He creates so many opportunities out there. It’s a lot of fun to play with him.”
Being partnered with the offensively savvy Letang has certainly raised Pettersson’s game up a notch, but the emphasis on putting pucks on net hasn’t just been talk. Pettersson is tied with Jeff Carter with 84 shots, trailing only Letang among Penguins defensemen.
It’s by far the most he’s had in a season, but many of the offensive opportunities he creates aren’t even being accounted for. There have been plenty of Pettersson shot attempts that weren’t intended for the goal but have ultimately reached it.
Oftentimes this campaign, Pettersson has aimed for the corners of the trapezoid behind the Penguins’ opponents’ net in hopes of creating a chaotic chance in the blue paint. It’s one way Pettersson’s racked up his assists, which is exactly what happened when Teddy Blueger scored his last Penguins goal in a late February win against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
“I’m just trying to get it through, honestly,” Pettersson said. “Sometimes, the lane isn’t there, there’s a lot of bodies in the way, so you try to get a different avenue just to get it down to the goal line for our forwards to work on. That’s where they’re at their best. If the lane’s there, I’m trying to shoot it, but if it’s not, maybe try to find a stick or go up the end boards. That’s a good way to create a broken play.”
Gaining familiarity with the notoriously differing end boards around the league doesn’t hurt, either. Now in his sixth NHL season, Pettersson has gained plenty of experience with the different rinks around the league, which shows in his calm approach to the game these days.
The steady Pettersson’s defense remains strong as ever, as he’s well on his way to another season with a positive plus/minus. Pettersson’s added element of offensive prowess, however, has served the Penguins well as they navigate a season when many of their defensemen have spent time shelved with injuries.
Around the boards
Letang took a maintenance day on Friday after skating in a season-high 29:04 of ice time in Thursday night’s 6-4 loss to the New York Rangers. Jeff Petry did not practice after leaving Thursday’s game early after an elbow to the head from New York’s Tyler Motte. Sullivan said Petry is continuing to be evaluated.
Chad Ruhwedel skated in Petry’s place at practice, partnering with Brian Dumoulin. The two tenured Penguins haven’t been paired together much in the past few seasons, although the results have mostly been positive when Sullivan has matched them.
In roughly 300 minutes of 5-on-5 ice time together since the 2016-17 campaign, the Penguins have been expected to score 14.42 goals relative to 11.79 against when deploying the DumoulinRuhwedel pairing. If Ruhwedel is called upon to fill in for Petry against the Rangers on Saturday, it would mark his first game since Feb. 23, as he’s been a healthy scratch since then.
“He’s so reliable. He’s always ready to play, which is great,” Dumoulin said of Ruhwedel. “Testament to him — that’s why he’s had such a successful career.”