Penguins forward Teddy Blueger sees improvement in faceoffs

It was a fairly one-sided game.

And it was against a clearly inferior opponent.

But for a brief moment or two, the Pittsburgh Penguins’ fate in their 5-2 home win against the beleaguered Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday seemed to be in question.

After giving up a score off a poor defensive zone turnover, the Penguins were shielding a narrow 2-1 lead and defenseman Marcus Pettersson took a hooking penalty that put the Canadiens on the power play at 12 minutes, 17 seconds of the second period.

With the ensuing faceoff, Canadiens forward Nick Suzuki lined up in the Penguins’ right circle. Opposite of him was Penguins forward Teddy Blueger.

When linesman Derek Nansen dropped the puck, no one won the faceoff, at least not at first.

Blueger muscled Suzuki off the puck and allowed it to sit on the dot for a second or so. As Canadiens forward Jonathan Drouin crashed in hoping to claim the puck, Blueger whacked it with his backhand off the end boards. After about 17 seconds of fierce battle for possession between the two teams, Blueger cleared it, allowing his team to make a change – with the benches on the far side of the ice – and forced the Canadiens to burn roughly 30 seconds of power-play time in trying to reestablish possession in the Penguins’ zone.

Ultimately, the Penguins killed that power-play opportunity and scored the eventual winning goal a few minutes later.

That faceoff win by Blueger won’t show up on the score sheet. But it came at a vital juncture and allowed the Penguins to coast to a fairly easy win.

It could be argued that sequence has encapsulated a lot of what Blueger has become to this team.

If nothing else, it demonstrates how much better Blueger has become in faceoffs.

This season, Blueger has won 54.8% in draws. Now in his fourth NHL season, Blueger has finished south of 50% in that area of game during his first three campaigns.

Blueger cites working with former Penguins forward Matt Cullen, currently a player development staffer, with aiding his improvement. Cullen is credited with having taken the 11th most faceoffs in the history of the NHL, which has maintained statistics for that part of the game since 1997.

One thing they’ve focused on is deploying different approaches in the circle.

“Having (Cullen) here has been a huge help,” Blueger said. “Working with him and going through video … just getting advice and getting little pointers. Trying to diversify my strategies that I’m using and the approach. If something’s not working, we’ve kind of used some strategies that I’ve gotten more (confident) in and more comfortable through working with him. I can change it up throughout the course of a game if I’m struggling versus (a specific opponent). He’s played a huge part in it.

“When (Cullen) played, he (had) kind of a similar stature as me and in a similar situation where he was taking a lot of (defensive) zone draws and killing penalties, things like that. So it’s easy to relate to him. And obviously, he’s a lefty. All those little details are kind of adding up. And probably some good fortune as well.”

Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan said: “Matt Cullen has been a great addition in that regard because Matt has the ability to share his experiences and some of the things that entered his mind when he was approaching the faceoff circle and some of the different strategies that he utilized to win faceoffs against different types of center icemen. Big guys, smaller guys, guys that have quick skill sets, guys that are brute and brawn, lefties, righties. There’s lot of details that go into it.”

Those details are easier to grasp with experience.

“Young guys come in and for the most part, you start 30, 40 (winning) percent,” Penguins forward Brian Boyle, a veteran of 14 seasons, said earlier this season. “Then you kind of work your way up from there just because you learn new tricks, you learn better timing and it just takes repetition and practice.”

Blueger has figured that out over his still-young career.

“Going back, especially to three or four years ago, I think I was pretty one-dimensional,” Blueger said. “I tried to do the same thing every time. It worked pretty good in college. Pretty good in (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton), I think. Once you get up here (the NHL), it’s tough because guys are a lot better, they’re stronger, smarter. If it was working, it feels pretty good. If it wasn’t, which was a lot of the time, it didn’t look great and I had nothing to fall back on and no ways to change it up.

”Depending on if I’m going to a righty or lefty (or) what side (of the ice) the faceoff is on, there’s different techniques. I’m not always necessarily trying to win it clean or snap it back. It could be tying up (the opposing center’s) stick or doing something else to disrupt him first versus just trying to win it back clean.”

Blueger’s obsessive nature played a role in his improvement as well. Much to the consternation of those who drive the Zamboni ice resurfacing machines at the team’s facility in Cranberry, Blueger is typically the Penguins’ last player on the ice as he usually refines every aspect of his game well beyond the confines of the team’s formal practice sessions.

That commitment extends off the ice as well.

“He’s willing to put the work in,” Sullivan said. “He works extremely hard at it, both on the ice but also off the ice. He’s had a lot of one-on-one time with (Cullen). They spend a lot of time on the iPad looking at the different strategies. We’re evaluating some of the better centermen in the league and what are their strategies. What can we take from someone else’s best practices and apply? As a coaching staff, we’ve tried to take a proactive approach to improving in that aspect of the game. It always boils down to the players and their willingness and their commitment to work at it and be receptive to some of the things that we’re trying to bring to them.

“In Teddy’s case, he’s been very receptive to a guy like Matt Cullen coming in and trying to help him in that aspect of the game. And he’s willing to put the work in. I think you’re seeing it in the results.”