Penguins forward Jason Zucker comfortable contributing 'in other ways'

UNIONDALE, N.Y. — Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jason Zucker got his first goal of the postseason Thursday during the Penguins’ 5-4 road win against the New York Islanders in Game 3 of their first-round series at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Having reached the 20-goal mark five times in his career, Zucker’s season has been underwhelming based on the pure basic offensive numbers. Limited to 38 games because of a presumed left leg injury he suffered in February, Zucker only scored nine goals during the regular season.

That equates to a goals-per-game pace of 0.24. In contrast, he was at 0.33 in 60 games last season.

“You’ve got to stick with the process,” Zucker said via video conference. “A big thing for me personally is getting shots on net and trying to create things for my linemates. And playing the right way as far as forechecks and being physical, getting pucks on net, being around the net. I think I can contribute in ways other than just putting the puck in the net. Obviously, goal scoring has been a part of my career that I’ve tried to lean on, but I want to make sure I’m contributing in other ways.”

His goal in Game 3 was impressive as he picked a corner from the slot at 18:03 of the second period with a forehand shot.

“That’s just trying to take what was kind of given there,” Zucker said. “Trying to make a play there with (forward Evgeni Malkin). We had a little bit of a scissor play there so I think it can cause a little bit of confusion with their defensemen. It was nice I was able to get a step there.”

Even if Zucker isn’t scoring at a rate commensurate with the expectations foisted upon him, management seems to be satisfied with other contributions he has offered.

“(Zucker) is playing hard,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “He’s a good north-south player. He goes to the net. He brings a physical presence to our team. For a guy that’s not overly big, he plays the game with a lot of edge and a lot of bite. He’s playing hard for us right now. He’s doing a lot of the little things, winning the wall battles and helping us become a team that’s hard to play against. We believe (Zucker) will score goals. He has shown an ability to do that.

“It’s more about just trying to control the process here and playing the game the right way, and (Zucker) has done a lot of good things for us.”

Penguins request clarity on dislodged helmet

A relatively new rule came into play on a sequence leading to a key goal by the Islanders at 3:46 of the third period during Game 3.

During a puck battle in the left corner of his defensive zone, Penguins’ defenseman John Marino’s helmet fell off. By rule, he had to either go to the bench, attempt to put it back on or risk taking a minor penalty.

Marino opted to go to the bench. As Cody Ceci scrambled to replace him on the ice, Islanders forward Cal Clutterbuck scored to pull his team within a goal 3-2.

Marino slammed his stick off the ice from the bench in frustration.

The rule, implemented in the 2019 offseason in the name of preventing head injuries, allows some room for interpretation as to how soon a player must either go to the bench or retrieve his helmet. Per section 9.6 of the NHL’s rule book:

“It is reasonable if a player who is making a play on the puck or who is in the vicinity of the puck and engaged in the play at the time his helmet comes off, takes the opportunity to complete the play before either exiting the ice or retrieving and replacing his helmet.”

Sullivan indicated the Penguins reached out to the NHL on how that rule is implemented in the aftermath of Game 3.

“We’re actually asking for a little bit more clarity in that circumstance because it’s our understanding that John can stay in the battle there,” Sullivan said. “We obviously get outnumbered because of it. We’re actually asking for clarity on that from the league. It’s my understanding that he can stay on that battle and look for the opportune time to get to the bench. That was just a circumstance that occurred in the game.

“Hopefully, we can avoid those moving forward. But part of it is just getting clarification from the league.”

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