Penguins defenseman Marcus Pettersson returns to lineup
Penguins defenseman Marcus Pettersson returned to the lineup for a road contest against the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center on Thursday.
A healthy scratch the previous two games, Pettersson opened the game on the third pairing with defenseman Chad Ruhwedel.
Before this week, Pettersson never had been a healthy scratch during his tenure over parts of four seasons with the Penguins.
“We just want Marcus to play to his strengths,” coach Mike Sullivan said to media in St. Louis after Thursday’s morning skate. “He’s a good player. He helps us get out of our end. He can make a good outlet pass for us. He defends well with his stick, his mobility. He’s a good two-way defenseman for us. That’s what our expectation is. He defends hard, he helps us get out of our end and he takes what the game gives him offensively. As long as we’re not forcing plays back there where we give our opponents and opportunity to counter-attack on us, I think that’s what we’re asking of all of our defensemen.”
By most accounts, Pettersson dealt with being a healthy scratch well.
“He’s a great pro,” Ruhwedel said. “Took it, put in his work and he’s just going to come back better than ever I’m sure. He’s a big part of this team, a big part of this (defensive) corps. We’re excited to have him.”
The Penguins opened the contest with different looks on their bottom-two pairings. Mike Matheson and John Marino skated as the second pairing. And with Pettersson in the lineup, defenseman Mark Friedman, who had primarily been Ruhwedel’s partner the previous eight games, was a healthy scratch.
Sullivan dismissed the suggestion that he is experimenting with his defensive pairings.
“We’ve moved guys around all year,” Sullivan said. “So I don’t know that ‘experimenting’ is the right word. We’re trying to put combinations together that give us the balance that we need.”
Ruhwedel’s most consistent partner this season has been Matheson. According to Natural Stat Trick, Ruhwedel and Matheson have logged 521:43 of common five-on-five ice time together this season before Thursday.
“Obviously, more familiarity of playing with Mike for so long is definitely beneficial,” Ruhwedel said. “But we have a great (defensive) corps here, so whoever you get put out there with, everyone knows how to do their job and usually does a good job anyway.”
Blueger gets used to the ‘bubble’
To use hockey parlance, forward Teddy Blueger has been wearing a ‘bubble’ the past four games. That’s to say he is donning a protective shield on his helmet to protect his surgically repaired jaw that kept him sidelined for 16 games through January, February and March.
“I got used to it pretty good,” Blueger said. “I obviously had quite a bit of time in it before (during his NCAA career). It’s not bad unless the puck is in between my feet and I’ve got to look through the little squares (vents). As long as I keep my head up, it’s not too bad. Once in a while, sweat will drip down on it, but that’s about the only thing.”
Since returning to the lineup, Blueger has recorded one assist. Additionally, he hasn’t dealt with any mental blocks in terms of engaging in physical play.
“It hasn’t really crossed my mind at all, which is good,” Blueger said. “I’ve been able to just go out there and play. Having the ‘bubble’ and knowing that I was protected anyway didn’t hurt. But I’ve been able to kind move past it for sure, and it really hasn’t been on my mind.
Aston-Reese scratched again
Penguins forward Zach Aston-Reese was scratched for the second consecutive games, though it wasn’t clear if was still dealing with the undisclosed illness that prompted him to miss Tuesday’s 4-1 road loss to the Nashville Predators. He was replaced on the fourth line by Dominik Simon for the second consecutive game.
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.
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