The Penguins' two best defensemen in Sunday's 6-3 win over the Capitals were Mike Matheson and Cody Ceci.
Both Matheson and Ceci had rough starts to their Penguins careers. Matheson, after two disappointing games, was sidelined for three weeks with an injury and returned last week. Ceci was a healthy scratch for a couple of games early in the season.
Both of the Penguins' offseason acquisitions on the blue line are getting comfortable in their new roles, and both played their best games of the season thus far on Sunday.
Here's what they did:
Matheson and Sidney Crosby teamed up for this beautiful passing play midway through the first period, with Matheson moving up in the play so Crosby could set him up. Matheson found Bryan Rust through the legs of Jake Guentzel, and Rust was in perfect position for a tap-in to tie the game at 1-1.
"I thought he made a great play on Rusty's goal," Mike Sullivan said of Matheson. "That give-and-go off of the offensive blue line. It just shows you what he's capable of."
It just showed great offensive instincts from Matheson, a strength of his that we've been waiting to see come out. Crosby was looking for Matheson to move up in the play, and Matheson knew just what to do.
"It was a great play by Sid," Matheson said. "I just got him the puck and tried to get open for him. He made a great play getting it to me. There wasn't much left for me to do at that point."
Ceci's primary assist came just 32 seconds later. He took a shot from the point, and Brandon Tanev buried the rebound:
Ceci recorded another assist, a secondary assist, on Jake Guentzel's second-period goal.
Ceci and Matheson each recorded three shots on goal, tied with P.O Joseph for the most by a defenseman in the game.
Ceci led the team with three blocked shots, and also recorded one hit and one takeaway.
Matheson was credited with one hit. One of his best moves defensively was something that won't show up in the box score. Garnet Hathaway took off on a breakaway that was broken up with this diving play by Matheson:
Among defensemen, the Penguins were in the most control of shot attempts when Ceci or Matheson were on the ice. The Penguins controlled 55.17 percent of the shot attempts when Ceci was on the ice, an 8.74 percent rise from when he was not on the ice. The Penguins controlled 51.72 percent of the shot attempts when Matheson was on the ice, up 3.51 percent from when he was not on the ice.
When Matheson returned to practice for the first time two weeks ago, he spoke about how the time he spent injured gave him an opportunity to see the game from a different angle and better understand the system and team concepts, which he thought would be an advantage when he returned.
"When you're watching a game from the press box, everything is so much slower," he said. "The game looks so easy up there. It's interesting to see it from that perspective. I think it was an opportunity to watch our faceoff plays, our D-zone coverage, just the systems, and try to pick up on those things so when I got back I fit in a little more seamlessly, instead of going to faceoffs and asking guys, 'Jeez, what does that call mean?' and that sort of stuff."
Now that he's played a couple of games, I asked how he felt with the system after that time off.
"A lot more comfortable," he said. "I feel like things are happening a little more naturally than at the beginning of the year. Once you get to a point where the systems are a little more natural and instinctual, it flows a lot better within the game."
Mike Sullivan said that he's noticed the growth in Matheson since he was injured.
"I think he's getting more familiar with how we're trying to play every day. I think his confidence has grown, he made some really nice plays out there today. He's defending hard for us. ... We think he's getting better with every day that he's here with us. He's certainly getting more familiar with how we're trying to play. Hopefully that will help his confidence."
Ceci, too, feels like he's getting more comfortable with the system with every game.
"Yeah, it's sort of what Mikey touched on there," he said. "I feel like after a little while you get a little more comfortable, you trust your instincts a little more, you're not guessing, you're not trying to figure out the system. You're just back to playing hockey and what we're used to. After awhile, I think you're just trying to get back to what you know and apply it to the game."
