For the first time since Feb. 11, a span of 21 games, Olli Maatta was in the Penguins' lineup. Marcus Pettersson was there too, though that should hardly come as a surprise. Whether they will be in the lineup together come the week of April 10, well, that still remains to be seen.
Since being acquired from Anaheim for Daniel Sprong on Dec. 3, arguably Jim Rutherford's best trade this season, Pettersson has been as much a cog in the Penguins' success as anyone outside of Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel, Kris Letang and Matt Murray. That's not hyperbole either.
Whether he's been paired with Jack Johnson or, most recently, with Erik Gudbranson, Pettersson has been rock-steady on the blue line, belying his relative inexperience. He's played all 53 games since coming to Pittsburgh, including Friday night's Pekka Rinne-inspired 3-1 loss to the Predators at PPG Paints Arena.
It was also, in effect, the first of a five-game audition for Pettersson.
Mike Sullivan has made no secret of his desire to keep three left- and right-handed pairings moving forward into the playoffs. It's what the Penguins have used so effectively since Gudbranson's arrival, going 9-2-3, while allowing the second-fewest goals in the NHL, since Feb. 24. Most importantly, the left-right pairings allow his team, an aging club which plays a system dependent on speed in the transition game, to play a step quicker.
The thing is, the Penguins have four lefties -- Brian Dumoulin, Jack Johnson, Maatta and Pettersson -- for three spots. However, Friday night was the first exception to the left-right pairings in a month. With Kris Letang missing his second straight game with an upper-body injury and Maatta cleared to return, it made sense to not disrupt the other two pairs, though it did call for Brian Dumoulin having to play the right side with Maatta on the left.
"It's not ideal, but given the circumstances, we're trying to figure those combinations out so that we've got three pairs that can help us," Sullivan said after his team's three-game winning streak came to an end.
Safe to say that neither Dumoulin nor Johnson -- Letang and Justin Schultz's regular partners -- are in much jeopardy of losing their spot in the lineup. So, by my estimation, that pits Maatta vs. Pettersson. If that's the case, score the first round for the rookie. By no means was it a 10-8 round, to use boxing terms, but Pettersson showed yet again what he can bring to the table.
Pettersson's exploits away from the puck, his size and tremendous reach, have been well documented. Since being partnered with Gudbranson, the two have complemented each other extremely well. While this "D-to-D" pass during the third period isn't quite highlight material, watch after Gudbranson's pass to Garrett Wilson is broken up. That is Pettersson recognizing danger, and jumping up to to collect the puck at the blue line. That's the kind of puck support that has allowed Gudbranson to flourish in his short time as a Penguin:
"There are smart hockey players here that recognize when a guy's in trouble and when plays can be made available and catch team's on their heels," Gudbranson was explaining.
But, for the sake of this argument, what really separates Pettersson from Maatta was on display much earlier. Maatta, not the fleetest of skater, simply can't do this:
That, above, was Pettersson with a little over eight minutes remaining in the first period. After Nick Bjugstad won the draw against Ryan Johansen back to Petterssson, the defenseman carried the puck and made a nifty, backhanded carom pass to himself with Filip Forsberg defending. Then, he drove to the net but couldn't stuff the puck past Rinne. There was a lot of that going on from Nashville's goalie.
"We had our fair share of chances," Pettersson was telling me afterward. "Maybe we could've, I don't know, I felt there were a lot of rebounds we could have gotten to, but their defensemen were awesome."
Later, with under a minute to play in the opening period, Pettersson again joined the rush. It's not often that you see a defenseman trying to score on a wraparound attempt but Pettersson, a forward in his youth, again showed good offensive instincts:
For what seems like a month, the Penguins have been involved in tight, playoff-like games. Friday was no different, with the Predators taking away the neutral zone. With that in mind, Pettersson says he carried the puck a little more:
"Our D-men, if we could come with speed and help our forwards out, I think it helps," he said. "I just try to move my feet and help.
"Teams are playing tight. We've got to find a way to get around it and create some chances."
At 5-on-5, Maatta earned the edge in the Corsi For percentage department, registering a 64.71 to Pettersson's 56.52. By the way, those were the two best marks of any Penguins defenseman. Maatta had seven shot attempts (five on goal), while Pettersson had six (also five on goal), including this slap shot on a second-period power-play that Rinne somehow tracked with Jared McCann parked in front of him:
Pettersson was on the ice for eight chances for and five against, while Maatta was on for five chances for and four against. The Swede also had a 3-2 to 1-3 advantage in high-danger chances for and against:
While both manned the points on the second power-play unit, thanks to Schultz going off for an early change after his turnover led to Viktor Arvidsson's short-handed breakaway, Pettersson got a brief, 20-second run with the No. 1 unit after Colton Sissons went off for hooking at 5:42 of the third. Though the Penguins didn't convert in that span, they didn't miss a beat with Pettersson quarterbacking. In fact, they put three shots on Rinne:
Obviously, much of the post-game talk centered on Maatta, and rightfully so. He's a two-time Stanley Cup champion and popular with everyone he's ever met. Though Maatta was on the ice for Craig Smith's first-period, high-tip that opened the scoring, he was hardly at fault and neither was Matt Murray.
"I thought Olli played pretty well," was Sullivan's assessment. That's not a ringing endorsement, but it was what could be reasonably expected for a player who'd just been out the previous 46 days.
On many levels, sitting Pettersson makes sense. He is still technically a rookie and has just four playoff games under his belt. That's 64 fewer postseason games than Maatta, who also plays on the penalty kill. That, alone, would seem to give the veteran the inside track. But there are other factors that will have to be weighed in Sullivan's decision, including keeping his defensemen on their strong sides and, frankly, the business side.
How this will all end up is anyone's guess.
"I just think we try to take it one game at a time, see who we have available," Pettersson was telling me. "We have a healthy competition on the 'D' side right now. Think that's good for our team."
On Friday night, the competition was certainly good for Pettersson.
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Penguins vs. Predators, PPG Paints Arena, March 29, 2019 - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS