Back at center, Penguins forward Evan Rodrigues looks for more goals

If Evan Rodrigues doesn’t score another goal this season, he still can boast of having a strong 2021-22 campaign.

With 15 goals, he shattered his previous career-high of nine.

Make no mistake, he would like to score more goals this season. But it just seems like he hasn’t scored any in quite a long time.

To be certain, he has gone 13 games without a goal, his last coming just over a month ago on Jan. 6.

“Hockey is a sport like that. It comes in bunches,” Rodrigues said to media in Boston on Monday. “I feel like I’m playing good hockey. I’m getting chances. I’m setting up guys for chances. It just seems like they’re not going in right now. It’s easy to get down when stuff like that happens. You’ve just to stick with it, stay confident and that’s what I’m doing.”

Rodrigues figures to get a greater chance to boost both his confidence and his offense starting with Tuesday’s road game against the Boston Bruins. With superstar center Evgeni Malkin sidelined for the time being after being placed into protocols for covid-19, Rodrigues is expected to center the third line while also being deployed on the top power-play unit.

Coach Mike Sullivan indicated Malkin tested positive for the virus during the team’s five-day break for the All-Star Game event. Malkin is expected to miss Wednesday’s road game against the Ottawa Senators because of Canada’s laws regarding the virus.

“Obviously, we’re disappointed,” Sullivan said. “We feel like we’re a better team when (Malkin) is in our lineup. That’s for sure. … As far as the guys we will put in the lineup, this is nothing we haven’t dealt with all year. We’re fortunate to have the versatility in our lineup that we can move guys around and guys are going to get opportunities to play more significant minutes and in other situations.

“Our players have stepped up in that regard. When an important player or two or three or five go down, then other guys have an opportunity to step up. That’s how we look at it. We feel like we have a deep roster. We feel like we have a versatile roster in the sense that we can move guys around positionally, especially at the forward position. … We believe we have capable guys.”

Rodrigues has certainly proven to be one of those guys, particularly during the early stages of the season when Malkin (right knee) and top center Sidney Crosby (left wrist) were sidelined as they recovered from offseason surgeries. Even without a tally in more than a month, his 15 goals are still second on the team.

Much of that success came while playing at center.

“Playing center helps that a ton,” said Rodrigues, who is capable of playing all three forward positions. “I’ve been playing wing a lot lately. Sometimes, that’s a little bit more static, up and down the wing. You don’t get the puck in the middle of the ice as much. Hopefully, playing center here (Tuesday), getting some touches early, getting the puck in the middle of the rink will help that.”

Sullivan professed satisfaction in what Rodrigues has offered as of late, even without the production.

“He’s still getting a lot of opportunities. The puck hasn’t gone in the net for him as much, but we believe that it will,” Sullivan said. “He’s a good player. He’s got good offensive instincts. When I’m breaking the film down, I always walk away saying he makes half a dozen really good plays that potentially end up either in goals or grade-A scoring chances for our team. That’s the impact that (Rodrigues) has on our team. He has real good offensive instincts, he has good playmaking ability and he has some finish. We’ve just preached to him, just play the game the right way.

“He’s well aware that he hasn’t scored here in the last little while, and he puts a lot of pressure on himself to do so. We’re just trying to help him through that process. My experience has always been that when players go through those bits of struggles, that taking the focus off of the goal-scoring and just trying to play the game the right way, it’s amazing how opportunity presents itself when you do.”

Rodrigues doesn’t seem like he’s particularly eager to change anything about his game, aside from an increase in generating goals.

“Just doing what I was doing before,” Rodrigues said. “Getting open, shooting the puck when I have the opportunity to, not trying to over-pass. Those guys do such a good job of supporting each other out there. Just trying to do that. A big thing for their success is their recoveries and getting in on pucks when there are 50/50 pucks. If I do that, you just kind of let the talent take over after that.”

Notes: Sullivan labeled forward Danton Heinen as a “game-time decision” for Tuesday’s game. Heinen has missed the past two games with a suspected back injury. … Forward Drew O’Connor has resumed practicing with the team, albeit in a limited capacity. He has been sidelined for the past nine games after suffering a reported collapsed lung on Jan. 15. … Forwards Michael Chaput and Valtteri Puustinen were recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League (AHL).