CRANBERRY — It’s now not as though the Pittsburgh Penguins had a large number of choices.
Not a large number of logical ones, no less than.
When they obtained Jeff Petry from Montreal this summer season, it simplest made sense to present him a spouse — preferably, a left-handed one — who performs a defense-oriented recreation, to permit Petry to take complete benefit of his offensive talents.
It couldn’t be Brian Dumoulin, since he has been penciled in along Kris Letang at the No. 1 pairing for a lot of years.
Ty Smith’s recreation undoubtedly wouldn’t be a great supplement to Petry’s. Same with that of P.O Joseph. Mark Friedman, perhaps? He’s a righty, and giving him stable paintings on the second one pairing can be just a little of a stretch.
And so it was once that, just about by means of default, Marcus Pettersson was once the most obvious option to deploy with Petry.
It’s just a little early to succeed in any conclusions — the Pittsburgh Penguins nonetheless must play an exhibition recreation towards Buffalo Friday at 7:08 p.m. at PPG Paints Arena prior to coming into the video games that depend — however Petry and Pettersson appear to be forming a gorgeous efficient partnership.
“He’s been an easy guy to play with,” Petry mentioned. “He’s been here. He knows the system. … I’m bouncing a lot of questions off him, and he’s got the answers.”
Pettersson’s earlier spouse was once John Marino, who was once traded to New Jersey a couple of months in the past, and Pettersson feels they meshed rather neatly.
“We were on the same page, in a lot of ways,” he mentioned. “We thought similarly a lot out there.”
Marino, despite the fact that, struggled from time to time after an excellent rookie season in 2019-20. And even in the most efficient of occasions, he was once now not prone to aggressively become involved within the offense.
That signifies that Pettersson’s skill to hide for a spouse who desires to, say, sign up for a hurry, went in large part unused.
That received’t be the case with Petry, who appreciates that being paired with Pettersson will make it conceivable for him to take some offensive possibilities, a lot the best way Dumoulin provides Letang that freedom.
“He’s got such an offensive upside,” Pettersson mentioned. “It’s good for me to cover when he goes. … Playing with each other, I can tell when he’s jumping up on the rush and I can cover for him.”
Petry averaged 12 objectives for 4 consecutive seasons prior to slipping to 6 in 2021-22. Working with Pettersson must permit him to take a run at getting again into double-figures.
“I’ve always had more success with a guy who’s a strong defensive player,” he mentioned.
Petry additionally is aware of what it’s love to have a spouse whose taste is simply too very similar to his personal.
“It was a bit difficult,” he mentioned. “You’re trying to get up in the play, he’s getting up in the play. Then, it’s both of us caught up.”
The parallel isn’t very best, however that appears like one thing the Pittsburgh Penguins attempted final season, when Mike Matheson spent a while on Letang’s left. Having two guys with robust offensive video games paintings in combination makes it tricky for both to supply to his attainable, as a result of any person has to concentrate on taking part in within the defensive finish.
That received’t be a subject matter with Pettersson and Petry, and the pairing must proceed to make stronger as they get extra acquainted and happy with each and every different.
“It’s been a good fit in the preseason,” Pettersson mentioned. “And every practice that we get together, it gets better.”
