From the neighboring locker stall came a small snicker from Jared McCann.
"Touchy subject," said McCann, teasing Nick Bjugstad about his teammate's power play prowess when the two were Florida teammates.
"Depended on the day," Bjugstad said with a laugh about his usage under Florida coach Bob Boughner.
Though his time in Florida didn't end the way he might have liked, Bjugstad has been a good fit so far with his new team. He seems to have carved a niche as the Penguins' third-line center -- with wingers McCann and Patric Hornqvist -- and also on the second power play unit.
Bjugstad will carry a modest three-game points streak into tonight's game against the Sharks at PPG Paints Arena. Two of those points -- a goal Tuesday against the Devils and an assist against the Rangers on Sunday -- have come on the power play. And, really, if you include his assist on Jake Guentzel's goal Saturday against the Flames just as a Calgary penalty expired, you could say it's three.
With the Panthers, Bjugstad had just three power play points (one goal) in 32 games this season. The 6-foot-6, 215 pound Bjugstad said he'd been utilized most recently as Florida's net-front presence but had played on the flank earlier in his career. When he scored his career-high 24 goals in 2014-15, seven of those goals came on the advantage with him playing on the flank. That's where he played at the University of Minnesota and it's where he's been playing with the Penguins.
"He's got a really good shot and he's smart with the puck," Guentzel said of Bjugstad. "He can make plays and when we're battling, he can hold defenders off."
Playing on the half-wall, Bjugstad can use his playmaking ability and he has a long reach which he uses well to protect the puck. And as his goal on Keith Kinkaid showed on Tuesday, he also possesses a deceptively hard wrist shot.
Of course, not to be overlooked in the second unit's recent success is the return of Justin Schultz to the lineup. He has a pair of assists in the three games he's been back. Both Guentzel and Bjugstad point to Schultz's poise with the puck as the key.
"He's a huge part of it," Bjugstad was telling me. "He's a defenseman who draws guys to him when he's on the top of that blueline and makes plays, which makes it easier for guys on the flanks. We're just keeping it simple, not overthinking things."
After going 0-for-7 on the power play in four games between Feb. 2 and 9, the Penguins have now gone 5-for-10 over the past three games. A lot of that success belongs to the second unit, which typically gets only 30-45 seconds of the two-minute advantage.
"We just try to make the most of our opportunity," said Guentzel, who would probably be on any other team's No. 1 unit.
"Those guys are just executing," Mike Sullivan said of the second unit's proficiency. "They're taking what our opponents are giving them. They're willing to shoot the puck. They're going to the net. They're just executing."
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THE ESSENTIALS
THE SESSION
• Casey DeSmith will be in goal. It's simply his turn and not a reaction to anything Matt Murray did in Tuesday's win at New Jersey, according to Sullivan. It will be DeSmith's first start since stopping 39 of 44 shots in a 6-5 win over the Rangers on Sunday. DeSmith is 0-1 in his career vs. San Jose after taking a 2-1 loss at SAP Center last January.
• Sullivan reiterated what Jim Rutherford told me Wednesday about Patric Hornqivst, who is mired in a 14-game goal-less drought. The coach said Hornqvist is doing everything he had been doing before going down with a concussion in early January, except scoring.
"At the end of the day, as a player, all you can control is the process," Sullivan said. "He tends to be a streaky guy and when the puck goes in for him, they tend to come in bunches. We're hoping he gets that first one and that they'll start to go in for him."
• The Penguins will look to avenge a 5-2 loss to the Sharks at SAP Center on Jan. 15. The game wasn't even as close as that score would indicate, as the Sharks manhandled the Penguins, particularly down low.
"They're one of the better offensive teams in the league," Sullivan said of tonight's opponents. "They've got real good special teams. They get a lot of offense from their defensemen. They're great transition guys, they join in the rush, they're active on the offensive blueline. Just a good well-balanced, solid team."
• Tonight will be the 1,495th career game for the ageless Matt Cullen. That will tie the 42-year-old with Phil Housley for third-most games played by an American. By next weekend, Cullen should be second to only Chris Chelios, who holds the record with 1,651 games. Mike Modano is currently second at 1,499. Though it's doubtful that Cullen will ever eclipse Chelios, surpassing Housley -- a fellow Minnesotan -- is a pretty good consolation.
• Like the Penguins, the Sharks rank in the top 10 in both special-teams categories. San Jose's power play, though, is particularly lethal when they can place Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson -- two Norris candidates -- on separate units. The Sharks are clicking at 24.3 percent.
"They have a lot of threats," Bryan Rust was telling me. "The key for us, one, don't take a lot of penalties. Two, work as a unit out there. When they're passing it around, zinging it around, don't get out-stretched too much. Don't get over-extended and open the seams. Just working as a unit is most important."
• Tonight's game is "Hockey is for Everyone" night at PPG Paints Arena. Accordingly, a number of players will sport rainbow-colored tape on their sticks for pre-game warmups. "Hockey is for Everyone" is a league initiative to celebrate inclusion and diversity.
• All expected players took the ice for the skate after Wednesday's travel day.
THE OTHER SIDE
• As expected, Peter DeBoer said that Martin Jones will be in goal tonight for the Sharks. He is 3-5-0 with an .897 save percentage and 2.90 GAA in the regular season against Pittsburgh. One of those wins came Jan. 15 when he stopped 22 of 24 shots in a 5-2 victory at San Jose.
• The Sharks are expected to have enforcer Micheal Haley in the lineup. He was claimed off waivers Wednesday from Florida, where he played 24 games this season, putting up a goal and assist and 30 PIMs. Haley, who previously played for the Sharks from 2014-17, led the NHL in penalty minutes last season with 212 while with the Panthers.
• Not that DeBoer needs a reminder of how good Sidney Crosby is, but the Sharks' coach had kind words for the guy who beat his team in the 2016 Stanley Cup Final. "When he's going, he's the best in the world at what he does," DeBoer said.
• The Sharks held an full skate Thursday at PPG Paints Arena.
THE INJURIES
• Olli Maatta, defenseman, has a separated left shoulder and is expected to miss a month. He’s still on IR.
THE COMBINATIONS
• The Penguins’ expected lines/pairings:
Guentzel–Crosby–Rust
Aston-Reese–Malkin–Kessel
McCann–Bjugstad–Hornqvist
Pearson–Cullen–Simon
Dumoulin–Letang
Johnson–Schultz
Petterson–Ruhwedel
• And, most likely, for the Sharks:
Meier—Couture—Pavelski
Kane—Hertl—Donskoi
Sorensen—Thornton—Labanc
Goodrow—Haley—M. Karlsson
Vlasic—E. Karlsson
Simek—Burns
Dillon—Braun
THE SCHEDULE
Faceoff tonight is at 7:08 p.m. The Penguins will travel to Philadelphia afterward where they'll practice tomorrow at 4 p.m. at Lincoln Financial Field in advance of Saturday night's Stadium Series game against the Flyers.
THE COVERAGE
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