‘Freddy Hockey’ again scores in Penguins playoff game — this time, for the Penguins
The last time Frederick Gaudreau played in the Stanley Cup playoffs, it involved the Pittsburgh Penguins. It involved some Gaudreau goals, too.
Sunday, though, Gaudreau’s scoring benefited the Penguins.
In his Penguins playoff debut and ninth playoff game of his career, Gaudreau scored his fourth postseason goal. That almost matches his production from 103 regular-season games over parts of four NHL seasons.
“It just happens,” Gaudreau said. “It’s a time of the year that I really enjoy, and that’s a good thing.”
It was for the Penguins on Sunday, even if the final result was a 4-3 overtime loss to the New York Islanders in Game 1 of the East Division first-round series. Gaudreau scored the Penguins’ first goal, 11 minutes, 10 seconds into the opening period and 3:12 after New York had taken an early lead.
FREDDY HOCKEY!
You love to see it! pic.twitter.com/Wq9vxe0eKN
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) May 16, 2021
Game 1 was Gaudreau’s first playoff game since Game 6 of the 2017 Stanley Cup Final against the Penguins more than 47 months ago.
“Good, for sure, coming back from a goal and starting the play out that way,” Gaudreau said of his goal. “We jump on the ice, and we hear the crowd and we have all those goosebumps and stuff, so it was really good to get that out of the way.”
The crowd (even one at one-quarter capacity) and jitters associated with playoff hockey don’t seem to affect Gaudreau. An undrafted player from Quebec, Gaudreau had just turned 24 and had just 11 games of meaningful NHL experience (and no goals) when he earned a spot in the Nashville Predators lineup for Game 1 the 2017 Final in Pittsburgh.
Gaudreau scored that game (a loss), but his goals during Games 3 and 4 in Nashville were credited as winners.
It all became part of the lore for an affable French Canadian who some refer to as “Freddy Hockey” — a nod to the nickname for the Calgary Flames’ Johnny Gaudreau (“Johnny Hockey”), which in itself is a knock-off of former college football star Johnny Manziel (“Johnny Football”).
The 6-foot, 179-pound Frederick Gaudreau had just three regular-season goals in 84 NHL games before tallying twice for the Penguins over the second half of their abbreviated season.
Penguins captain Sidney Crosby has been around long enough to recognize the magic some otherwise-unheralded players seem to find when the stakes are highest come playoff time.
“It’s the time of the year where you see that time and time again,” Crosby said. “Freddy has done a great job for us since he got here. He’s got a lot of experience and has scored some big goals over the course of the years. It’s great to see him put one in, and that was a big goal for us at that time.”
That coach Mike Sullivan trusted Gaudreau for a precious lineup spot showed how much he’d been impressed by Gaudreau during a 19-game trial in the regular season.
#Penguins have leaned on Frederick Gaudreau at a time when three of their leading penalty-killing forwards — Teddy Blueger, Mark Jankowski and Brandon Tanev — have missed time because of health-related issues. https://t.co/aCwQXSSGzK
— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) March 30, 2021
Signed as an afterthought in October, seemingly to bolster the Penguins’ AHL affiliate, Gaudreau didn’t earn a recall to the Penguins until the season was half over. But with points in four of his first eight games — and, more importantly, by being a presence on the ice with his speed during seemingly every shift — Gaudreau quickly became a favorite of Sullivan’s.
“He’s a guy that brings a ton of urgency and ton of energy to the games when he’s playing,” Sullivan said late last month, “and I think that passion for the game is contiguous.”
So much so that Gaudreau leapfrogged others on the depth chart and was in the lineup Sunday, when he tied for second on the team with four shots on goal in addition to being credited with a hit, a takeaway and a blocked shot in 12:20 of ice time centering a line with Jason Zucker and Evan Rodrigues.
Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.
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