Through success and failure, Penguins forward Teddy Blueger remains obsessed with work

It was an unreliable moment. And it came from one of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ most reliable players.

On Saturday night, in the late stages of a tied game against the New York Islanders, the Penguins needed to get a puck out of their own zone from the left half-wall. There are few people who could handle the basic fundamentals of that task with as much trust as forward Teddy Blueger.

But something went wrong.

In trying to bank the puck off the glass of Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Blueger, under pressure from Islanders forward Jean-Gabriel Pageau, put a little too much emphasis on his clearing attempt and lofted the puck out of play.

That led to an automatic delay of game penalty with less than four minutes left in regulation. The Islanders were on a power play, and the Penguins were denied the services of one of their top penalty killers in Blueger.

Less than a minute later, Islanders forward Anders Lee jabbed in a rebound for the winning goal in a 4-3 victory.

Less than 48 hours later, after his team’s practice in Cranberry, Blueger was in a similar spot on the ice, skating with a puck by himself. Taking sharp cuts, he went back and forth with the puck, seemingly shielding it from a phantom forechecker.

If Blueger is in that scenario again, he’ll be well prepared to deal with it in a much different fashion.

“That was a tough one,” Blueger said via video conference Monday. “I’ve made that play it seems like hundreds of times, and it’s been fine. I watched a bunch of times over. I’m not sure how I let that happen.”

“You definitely think about it, especially given (the game-winning goal). We battled hard and played a pretty decent game and I think probably deserved a little bit of a better outcome. When you let the team down like that is definitely pretty disappointing. Kind of a tough one to swallow. But that happens in sports. … You do have to kind of move forward and put it in the rear view mirror at some point.”

Blueger’s meticulous toiling after the fact is reflective of a player who obsesses over the game.

Routinely the final player off the ice after practices and morning skate, Blueger’s devotion is something that can marvel onlookers.

Unless you happen to drive the Zamboni. In that case, you better possess a sturdy sense of patience as Blueger smooths out the rough edges to his game.

“He’s definitely, I’d say, obsessed with the game,” Penguins defenseman John Marino said. “He’s always watching his (video) clips. He’s one of the guys always in the video room. Little things like that. Worried about his sticks. He’s always in the stick room. Yeah, he’s one of those guys that has a passion for the game. Kind of a rink rat. He’s always there.”

Drafted in 2012, Blueger’s almost fanatical approach to his vocation began in college when he attended Minnesota State, Mankato.

“My first two years (in the college ranks) kind of weren’t great,” Blueger said. “After my second year, I was struggling. Being drafted in the second round, it almost seemed like it really wasn’t going to work out. … It got to the point where I just realized I’m just going to work as hard as I can every day. Just make sure every day I give everything that I have and see what comes of it. It just kind of became a habit. I started figuring out that maybe I don’t have the most talent, but I can make up for it with a work ethic. That’s stuck with me.”

That tireless pursuit to his work has led to Blueger earning something of a promotion this season as the third-line center. He usually inhabited that role in 2019-20, but mainly because injuries forced him and his regular linemates, Zach Aston-Reese and Brandon Tanev, to serve as the third line.

But now, with the forward ranks relatively healthy, Blueger has taken on that role in a truer capacity. That has led to a slight uptick in scoring with six points (two goals, four assists) in 11 games. His 0.55 points per game this season is considerably higher than the 0.32 he logged last season.

Blueger’s production saw a similar climb during the four seasons he spent in the American Hockey League with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. After being limited to seven goals in his first full season (2016-17) there, Blueger’s final two campaigns in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton saw him reach the 21-goal mark on each occasion.

He suggests he can take on a similar trajectory at the NHL level.

“I can take my game to the next level … and contribute more and more offensively,” Blueger said. “There’s a lot of room to grow. I’ve done it before in the minors. I know that’s a different level, but there’s no reason why I can’t do it here.

“I’m holding onto pucks more. I’m feeling a little bit more confident. The game’s slowing down to where I see more open passing lanes, more plays develop.

“Kind of waiting to let the play come to me (now) versus last year, especially early on, it was just making sure that I’m dialed in and not making any mistakes and trying to stay in the lineup. … I’m just more myself.”

And being himself involves a level of dedication few of his peers can match. Especially after miscues such as what happened Saturday.

“Teddy takes it personally,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “That’s part of what makes him as good as he is and the type of player that he is. He takes a lot of pride in his game, he takes a lot of pride in the role that he plays on our team.

“When things don’t go the way that Teddy wants it, then I think he takes it personally. That’s certainly something that I admire about him as part of his personality.

“He’s a real driven kid. You can see his work ethic in how he applies himself every single day.”

In many ways, that diligence is what defines Blueger more than anything else.

“One of the main lessons that I’ve learned through hockey in life is just focusing on outworking everyone else around me and giving everything every day,” Blueger said. “From that, good things tend to happen.”