Penguins notes: Defenseman Mark Friedman hopes to make the most of chance

Having played all of 15 NHL games over three seasons, Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Mark Friedman isn’t all that particular over how opportunity arrives.

He’s just grateful when it does arrive.

“An opportunity is an opportunity,” Friedman said via video conference. “In this business, when you get an opportunity, you’ve got to pounce on it. Hopefully, that’s what I can do here.”

Out of action for nearly two months, Friedman returned to the Penguins’ lineup during Monday’s 7-2 road loss to the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center.

Suffering a concussion March 4, Friedman was sidelined for 22 games while recovering from that injury. Activated from injured reserve April 18, he spent the next eight games as a healthy scratch while the Penguins were blessed with a prolonged outbreak of health among their top six defensemen.

That came to an end Monday as Mike Matheson was sidelined because of a presumed face injury that is expected to keep him sidelined for a few weeks.

In his placed stepped the right-handed Friedman, who lined up on the left side of second pairing with Cody Ceci. Logging 13 minutes, 2 seconds of ice time on 21 shifts, Friedman had two shots on three attempts and recorded a team-high four blocked shots.

“It was a grind for sure,” Friedman said of his time out of the lineup. “The recovery was a little longer than I had hoped. But I’d rather be safe than sorry with a concussion. It felt great to be back out there with the boys.”

Capable of playing his off side, Friedman professes an understanding of what he needs to offer the Penguins in the absence of the left-handed Matheson.

“We’ve just got to play a simple game,” Friedman said. “Can’t be trying to do too much. Some instances in the offensive zone, you’ve got the puck on your backhand. You’ve got to make quick plays. It all comes down to having good gaps and having solid defense in your own zone, and that can lead to offense.”

With Matheson’s convalescence expected to last several weeks, Friedman appears to be in line to appear in his first career NHL postseason games.

“It’s every kid’s dream to play in the Stanley Cup playoffs,” said Friedman, whom the Penguins claimed off waivers from the Flyers on Feb. 24. “For me, I’ve just got to do what I’ve done to get to this level. And that’s just play my game at both ends of the ice, be a pest out there without taking any penalties. If I can use my skating ability to get up in the play and become the third or four man (in an offensive rush), hopefully I get a shot.”

DeSmith takes break

Penguins backup goaltender Casey DeSmith did not dress for Tuesday’s rematch in Philadelphia. He left Monday’s game because of an undisclosed injury.

In his place, the Penguins dressed reserve goaltender Maxime Lagace after recalling him on an emergency basis from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League (AHL).

Lagace, 28, has appeared in nine AHL games this season and has a 4-3-2 record along with a 2.30 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage.

Geno’s PIM

By way of a roughing minor during the second period of Monday’s game, Penguins’ forward Evgeni Malkin recorded his 984th career penalty minute and surpassed former forward Troy Loney (982) — one of the toughest players in franchise history — for second place on the franchise’s career penalty minutes list. Only former All-Star power forward Kevin Stevens (1,048) has more.