Veteran Jeff Carter brings his 'A' game to Penguins

Of the 400 career goals Jeff Carter can boast of, the first 399 are probably the best-looking ones.

After all, he didn’t even put his most recent score into the net himself.

During a 5-4 overtime loss to the Florida Panthers on Thursday in Sunrise, Fla., the veteran Pittsburgh Penguins forward reached the 400-goal mark with a bit of luck.

Rushing up the right wing of the offensive zone, Carter forced a pass to the crease for linemate Bryan Rust only to have it intercepted by Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad.

It was a fine defensive play by Ekblad with one notable exception.

He deflected it into his own net.

Carter was credited with a goal and wasn’t overly concerned with the optics.

“You take them any way they can come,” Carter said. “Hopefully, I can hang around to score a lot more of them.”

At 36, Carter has hung around quite a bit in the NHL. With the benefit of 17 seasons of experience, he has seen a lot, including the occasional own goal by the opposition.

As such, he has a perspective few on the Penguins roster can offer. At least the active roster.

Only captain Sidney Crosby, currently on the NHL’s nonroster injured list, has been in the NHL as long as Carter (both players debuted in 2005-06). And Crosby as well as alternate captain Evgeni Malkin have been sidelined to open the season as they recover from offseason surgeries to their left wrist and right knee, respectively.

In their absence, Carter, whom the team acquired via trade in April, has been designated as an alternate captain to open the season.

Despite having only been a member of the organization for six months, the decision to sew an “A” on Carter’s jersey wasn’t difficult because of his experience, talent and engaging personality.

“All of the above,” said coach Mike Sullivan, who maintains a “depth chart” of sorts for alternate captains should any of the incumbents be absent. “Since Day 1 since he’s walked into our dressing room, I think he’s really fit into our group. He’s enhanced the leadership group that we’ve already had here, which we feel really strongly about in how good it is.

“He has great leadership skills. When you combine his personality with the type of player and the legacy that he’s built into the league to this point, it lends to a leadership role. In the absence of Sid and some of the other guys we have out of the lineup, he’s really stepped to the forefront as far as trying to fill that void. He’s really done a terrific job.”

Wearing an “A” is largely ceremonial in hockey. There are some tangible privileges on the ice such as being permitted to chat with on-ice officials about “the interpretation of rules” as written in the NHL’s rulebook. However, even that statute seems to be loosely enforced.

Regardless, the fact that Carter has earned a letter is attestation to the presence he already has commanded with the Penguins in roughly half a year with the squad.

“Jeff has really established himself with our team,” said Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin, also serving as an alternate captain in the absences of Crosby and Malkin.

“He definitely is a leader. He’s had a lot of success in the past. He’s been around a lot. He’s an easy guy. He’s a great guy. He speaks out, but he’s not overly vocal. He’s just a great guy, a great teammate. He’s really jelled with us already.”

Carter’s leadership extends off the ice, as well.

“Guys are following his footsteps right now,” said defenseman Kris Letang, who, along with Malkin, is one of the regular alternate captains. “Guys want to be around him off the ice, like at dinners. Or when we’re just hanging out, they want to be around him listening to the stories.”

With or without a grapheme, Carter is hoping he’ll have a few more tales to tell.

“I’ve been lucky to play with a lot of good players and a lot of good teams,” Carter said. “I’m hoping to keep going to put some more in.”

Notes: The Penguins assigned defenseman P.O Joseph to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League. … The team had a scheduled off day Sunday.

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