Penguins forward Frederick Gaudreau makes impact as penalty killer

During Saturday’s 6-3 home win against the New York Islanders at PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh Penguins forward Frederick Gaudreau did something he had not done in the NHL in quite a while.

Score a goal.

His goal 5 minutes, 48 seconds into regulation Saturday was his first at the NHL level since Dec. 31, 2018.

Before Saturday’s triumph, he already has been doing something for the Penguins he rarely had done in his previous NHL experience.

Kill penalties.

Before Monday’s rematch at home against the Islanders, Gaudreau had averaged 2:22 of short-handed ice time in six games with the Penguins.

In his first 84 career regular-season games — all with the Nashville Predators — he had a total of 3:50 of short-handed ice time, equating to an average of 3 seconds per contest.

“I haven’t done that before at the NHL level. I didn’t really have special (teams) ice time before,” Gaudreau said via video conference. “So it’s new to me at this level. But I’ve done it a lot at the (American Hockey League) level. It’s something that I’m used to. It’s something that I really enjoy.

“It’s a good way to bring momentum to your team and bring yourself momentum, too. It’s been good. The guys that I’m playing with are experienced guys. They help me a lot with their cues on the ice. So it’s been good.”

The Penguins have leaned on 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.

Gaudreau’s most notable short-handed moment during this stretch came Wednesday during the second period of a 5-2 home win against the Buffalo Sabres.

Stealing a pass in his own zone, Gaudreau generated his own breakaway. As he approached the net, he veered to the right, drew Sabres goaltender Dustin Tokarski out of the crease then slipped a subtle pass to the slot for trailing forward Zach Aston-Reese, who buried a wrister into an open cage.

“Once I caught that pass in the air, I just thought that I could try something offensively,” Gaudreau said. “I saw Zach … out of the corner of my eye on the right side there. And I kind of felt he was coming with me, too. Once I figured out I didn’t have a shot at the goalie, I knew he was kind of there. But it all happened quick, and I knew he was in a good spot there. That was fun.”

Blueger’s absence — he has been sidelined for eight games because of an undisclosed injury — has created a considerable void just in terms of faceoffs on the penalty kill.

The right-handed Gaudreau has taken 15 short-handed draws for the Penguins, winning seven (46.7 %).

That’s one of the attributes that appealed to the coaches when they turned to Gaudreau to takes some of those minutes.

“He’s a smart player. He has good awareness. He plays with a lot of courage. He’s competitive. He’s willing to block shots, and he’s pretty good at the faceoffs as a right-handed shot,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “We’re looking for guys that can help us in that department, in that area of our game and especially under the circumstances with some of the guys that we have out.

“So we’re looking for guys that can help us in that capacity. So we thought we’d try Freddy, and we’ve liked what we’ve seen to this point. That’s why he’s gotten continued ice time in that circumstance.”

Notes: Forward Jason Zucker was activated from long-term injured reserve and returned to the lineup. He had been sidelined since Feb. 23 because of a suspected left leg injury. … Forward Evgeni Malkin was moved from injured reserve to long-term injured reserve retroactive to March 16. Malkin has missed seven games with a suspected right knee injury. Players on long-term injured reserve must remain there for 10 games and 24 days on the NHL calendar. … Forward Drew O’Connor was assigned from the NHL roster to the taxi squad, and forward Jonathan Gruden was recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League and assigned to the taxi squad.