Sullivan: Matheson 'playing a confident game right now' taken at PPG Paints Arena (Penguins)

GETTY

Mike Matheson and the Penguins celebrate Teddy Blueger's second-period goal Thursday night at PPG Paints Arena.

Penguins

Sullivan: Matheson 'playing a confident game right now'

By Dave Molinari

Feb 19, 2021 • 4:01 am

1.9K

This was not a set play, something coaches drew up on a whiteboard.

Instead, it developed quickly and organically, at the confluence of instinct and innovation.

Mike Matheson, at the left point in the New York Islanders' zone, took a pass from Zach Aston-Reese, who was in the right-wing corner.

Islanders forward Josh Bailey came out to challenge Matheson, who responded by launching the puck toward the New York net.

Sort of.

OK, in its general direction.

It's very general direction.

Which is precisely what Matheson intended.

He slipped past Bailey and collected the puck inside the left circle after it caromed off the backboards, then threw it at Islanders goalie Semyon Varlamov.

Varlamov stopped Matheson's shot, but the rebound went directly to Teddy Blueger, who was unchecked to the right of the crease and flipped in the rebound for what proved to be the game-winning goal in the Penguins' 4-1 victory at PPG Paints Arena Thursday night.

In little more than milliseconds, Matheson had assessed the situation developing before him, formulated a plan to deal with it and executed that plan flawlessly.

"It was a pretty smart play, obviously," Blueger said.

Indeed, Matheson's play seemed to impress just about everyone.

Everyone except Matheson, anyway.

"It was just kind of an instinctual play," he said. "It wasn't really something I was looking to do before the game, or anything like that. They're so good at blocking shots, and I was just trying to get a lane by them."

Good idea.

It worked.

The sequence that culminated in Blueger's goal was, perhaps, the most striking of Matheson's evening, but hardly his only positive one.

He made regular contributions at both ends of the ice, and skated with the confidence of a guy who expected to do just that.

In short, Matheson looked a lot like the player the Penguins thought -- or, at least, hoped -- they were getting from Florida in the Patric Hornqvist trade during the offseason. The one whose consistently strong play a few seasons ago had convinced the Panthers that he could be a major piece of the franchise's foundation, prompting them to sign him to an eight-year, $39 million contract.

"Mike had a real strong game on both sides of the puck," Mike Sullivan said. "You could see his skating ability and how effective it is, both defending -- taking time and space from our opponents and closing on people -- and then offensively, his ability to join the rush."

Matheson was hurt during the second game of the season, and missed the eight games that followed.

While he was out, it became clear that a significant segment of the fan base -- particularly those who had been skeptical about the wisdom of trading for him -- had mixed feelings about Matheson. Some thought he should be traded, while others were equally adamant that he should be waived.

And there probably were some who believed he should have been forced into a different line of work.

Since rejoining the lineup, however, the trajectory of his game has grown increasingly steep. He and defense partner John Marino were on the ice for all four Penguins goals Thursday night, when Matheson had no qualms about asserting himself all over the ice.

"I think he's getting more comfortable in his surroundings," Sullivan said. "I really think that's helping him and he's playing a confident game right now. We really like the progress that he's made, and we're hoping he can continue to build on it."

Matheson and Marino have been partners for several games and the Penguins' other two pairings -- P.O Joseph-Kris Letang and Marcus Pettersson-Cody Ceci -- were unchanged, too.

Sullivan did make a significant personnel switch, though, bumping Kasperi Kapanen to the No. 1 line with Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel and putting Bryan Rust with Evgeni Malkin and Jason Zucker.

The Guentzel-Crosby-Rust unit had been quite productive, but the Zucker-Malkin-Kapanen line had been lackluster, at best.

"We're trying to find some balance through our lineup," Sullivan said. "We think it's important to have that competitive balance."

The early results had to be encouraging, as every top-six forward except Guentzel made it onto the scoresheet at least once.

Crosby put the Penguins in front to stay at 4:15 of the first period, when he deflected a Kapanen shot past Varlamov. After Blueger made it 2-0, Zucker padded the Penguins' lead and Rust closed out the scoring with an empty-net goal after Varlamov had been replaced by an extra attacker.

Thanks, in part, to goalie Tristan Jarry, who stopped 31 shots and didn't give up a goal until Brock Nelson scored from point-blank range during a power play at 15:39 of the third, the Penguins did not trail at any point, the first time that has happened in 15 games this season.

Crosby's goal marked just the sixth time in 2020-21 that the Penguins have opened the scoring. Getting a lead is particularly important against a defense-first team like New York, because it forces the Islanders to shift their focus from preventing goals to trying to score them.

"Teams are so good in this league that when you get down a goal or two, they're so good at holding leads, it's hard to come back every single time," Zucker said. "We're trying to put an emphasis on having better starts, getting that first goal."

The victory was the third in the past four games for the Penguins (8-6-1) and lifted them to within two points of the fourth-place Islanders in the East Division.

There still are kinks to work out of their game, but also encouraging signs that they have a chance to hold their own in what might by the NHL's toughest division this season.

"We're making progress," Sullivan said. "One of the things we talk about with our players is just trying to get better, each and every day, learn from the experiences and try to grow as a group. ... We're trying to gain some traction here and find more consistent results and more consistent performances, night-in and night-out."