Fully healthy (or close to it), Penguins defensemen have taken major strides

When they visit the rival Philadelphia Flyers on Monday at Wells Fargo Center, the Penguins defense could look different for the first time in a while.

Assuming 23 games counts as “a while.”

That’s how many consecutive contests the Penguins have dressed the exact group of defensemen:

• Top pairing Brian Dumoulin and Kris Letang

• Second pairing Mike Matheson and Cody Ceci

• Third pairing Marcus Pettersson and John Marino

With today’s NHL, particularly in a pandemic-condensed schedule, 23 games might as well be an eon.

The only thing threatening the Penguins making it two dozen contests with the same group of defensemen is Matheson’s face.

During the second period of Saturday’s 3-0 road win against the Washington Capitals, Matheson left the game after being struck on the left side of his face by a clearing attempt from goaltender Tristan Jarry.

With the Penguins off Sunday, the earliest public word on his well-being won’t arrive until after Monday’s morning skate, at best.

If the left-handed Matheson isn’t able-bodied, the Penguins aren’t short on options to replace him in the form of Mark Friedman or Juuso Riikola, each capable of playing the left side.

The possibility of being forced to dress a reserve to replace Matheson, one of the Penguins’ most dynamic defensemen, isn’t appetizing. But it’s hardly nauseating. Especially considering what the Penguins blue line looked liked just over three months ago.

During a 3-1 road loss to the New York Rangers on Feb. 1, a series of calamities forced the Penguins to deploy:

• A top pairing of rookie P.O Joseph and second-year professional John Marino

• A second duo of Chad Ruhwedel and Ceci, each right-handed with Ruhwedel being asked to skate on the left side.

• And a bottom pairing of career minor leaguer Kevin Czuczman with Yannick Weber, an unrestricted free agent signed off the street who had to drive from Nashville to New York to meet the team.

Today, with a healthy group of defensemen — Matheson’s status notwithstanding — the Penguins have morphed into a stout defensive outfit thanks to a blue line that has benefited from an outbreak of health and a greater familiarity with the schemes orchestrated by assistant coach Todd Reirden.

The lack of a true training camp because of the pandemic did not allow incumbents such as Letang and Dumoulin or offseason acquisitions such as Ceci and Matheson to get fully acclimated to what Reirden expected of them.

In a lot of ways, the regular season has served as training camp.

“They’re more familiar. They’re more comfortable,” coach Mike Sullivan said via video conference. “The pairs have been fairly consistent here over the last little while. … Todd has a great relationship with all of those guys. He does such a terrific job with his conversations and his coaching and trying to help those guys be successful and understand what their role is and how they need to play within the team concept that helps them be successful but also helps our team be successful.

“I think it’s a combination of things. Todd’s influence has been invaluable for our defense corps.”

Reirden, who returned to the Penguins this past offseason after spending six seasons in various capacities with the Capitals, has provided something of a course correction for Ceci and Matheson, each of whom struggled with their previous teams, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers, respectively.

“He’s been great with all of us,” Ceci said. “He’s got a lot of time for us to work with us on individual things and talking to us along the way. He’s just been helping us out. He’s got a lot of experience. A head coach, assistant coach, he’s been all over. He’s even played the game. So it’s nice to have a coach like that help you out.”

Said Matheson: “There’s been loads of time that we’ve been able to sit down and watch shifts and watch different areas of my game. It’s not necessarily one area of my game that stands out. It’s just a constant dialogue back and forth to work on my game and to build my confidence. It’s been great to be able to work with him all year.”

The success of Ceci and Matheson has elevated them to the second pairing after opening the season as a much-scrutinized third pairing,

“We were hopeful these guys could come in and be serviceable players for us,” Sullivan said. “And they have been. They deserve a lot of credit for how hard they’ve worked. They’ve come a long way since Day 1 of training camp. They’re more familiar with our game. Todd has done a really good job with those guys. Those two guys as a tandem, as a pair have played really well for us. They’ve been a vitally important pair for us in the success that we’ve enjoyed to this point.

“We also felt from Day 1, when we acquired them, that these guys were real capable guys. Maybe in a different environment, these guys could have an opportunity to thrive. I know that was part of the discussion when these guys were acquired and became part of our team. So here we are (52) games later (after) a short training camp, and these guys have really grown into being really integral parts of this team.”

Matheson’s status remains up in the air. But even if he is forced to miss time because of his injury, the Penguins defensemen are in a far better place compared to the early portions of the season, in more ways than one.

“That group of defensemen that have been in the lineup have been terrific for us,” Sullivan said.