A reunion of John Marino and Marcus Pettersson is getting results for the Penguins

Pittsburgh Penguins coaches have tinkered with breaking up the defensive pairing of John Marino and Marcus Pettersson before.

Their first divorce came early in the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season. Partyly because of an undisclosed injury to Pettersson, the right-handed Marino was teamed with left-hander Mike Matheson to mixed results.

Eventually, Marino and Pettersson were reunited and finished the season with one another, albeit in underwhelming fashion as an inconsistent third pairing while the southpaw Matheson and starboarder Cody Ceci – since departed as free agent signing with the Edmonton Oilers this past offseason – formed a reliable second duo.

The most recent attempt to fissure Marino and Pettersson came this preseason. The Penguins all but used an arc welder to reconvene Marino and Matheson during training camp, but those best-laid plans went by the wayside when Matheson was sidelined just prior to the start of the regular season with an undisclosed ailment.

So by the time the Penguins opened this season Oct. 12 against the defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning, they went back to the tried-and-true union of Marino and Pettersson.

And even if it wasn’t necessarily the coaching staff’s first choice, the results for that pairing have been first rate by any metric.

Through four games, Marino and Pettersson have been on the ice for 49 shot attempts for and only 34 shots attempts against according to Natural Stat Trick.

In contrast, the top pairing of Brian Dumoulin and Kris Letang, which admittedly draws tougher assignments, has been on the ice for 50 shot attempts for and 58 against.

“It’s familiarity,” said Pettersson, who has one assist in four games. “But I think as well, we’re playing at a pretty high level. You can see his skating is really coming along. And he’s playing well right now, and it’s easy to feed off of that. We’re both playing well. With Mike’s injury earlier, I saw an opportunity that I’ve got to step in now and play well when he’s out. It’s nice to have him back but at the same time, I want to play as much as possible. We’ve been playing well, so, that’s good.”

Matheson made his season debut during Tuesday’s 2-1 home shootout loss to the Dallas Stars and primarily skated on the third pairing with Chad Ruhwedel. Were it not for his preseason injury, this might be an article about the success of the Marino-Matheson pairing.

“That was something that was discussed in the offseason, about how we were going to move forward without Cody Ceci and who would be in different pairings,” said assistant coach Todd Reirden, who oversees the defense. “With Mike Matheson missing early on with an injury, we went back to a comfortable pairing in John and Marcus together. They’ve earned the opportunities they’re getting. Both of them understand that there was better in their game than they showed last year and they’ve responded thus far.”

The results have been most vivid for Marino, who has four points in four games, including his regulation goal Tuesday. Pettersson had the secondary assist.

“We’ve played together for a little while now,” Marino said. “We know each other’s tendencies. We just kind of feed off of each other.”

With the success Marino and Pettersson have displayed through all of four games, it doesn’t seem like a third bifurcation is coming any time soon.

“In terms of their pairing moving forward, we’re in the business of winning here and we base it on merit, Reirden said. “The evaluation has always been an important thing for me to go through (with) the players for them to understand they earn their opportunity. And it’s theirs until they lose it to someone else.

“In this situation, that pairing will be staying together. (We) hope for them to continue to play as they have been.”

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