CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Teddy Blueger has a lot in common with Matt Cullen.
They are about the same size. Blueger is a bottom-six center who shoots left-handed; so was Cullen. Blueger takes a lot of pride in playing well defensively, and pays close attention to the details that make it possible. Just as Cullen did.
Cullen, who spent three of the final four seasons of his career with the Penguins and helped them win Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017, now is on their player-development staff, and Blueger is one of the players he has helped to develop.
His impact is especially evident in Blueger's work on faceoffs, which has improved steadily throughout hie career.
Blueger enters the Penguins' game against the Sabres Friday at 7:08 p.m. at PPG Paints Arena with a 188-155 mark on draws. That's a success rate of 54.8 percent which, if it holds, will mark the first time in his career that he's finished on the sunny side of .500.
After winning just 44.6 percent of his faceoffs as a rookie, he improved to 45.2 percent the following season and 48.7 percent in 2020-21.
It's no coincidence that Blueger's winning percentage has gone up in tandem with the time he's been able to spend with Cullen.
"Having (Cullen) here has been a huge help," Blueger said after practice Thursday. "Working with him, going through video ... just getting advice, getting little pointers, trying to diversify the strategies that I'm using, and the approach. If something's not working, we use some other strategies that I've got more confidence in and have gotten more comfortable with, through working (with) him."
Blueger takes the majority of his draws in the defensive zone, where getting control of the puck is critical.
He has handled 177 faceoffs there this season, going 92-85, a success rate of 52 percent. He has controlled 53.5 percent of his draws in the offensive end, 60.2 percent in the neutral zone.
All of those figures are likely to rise as Blueger absorbs more of the knowledge and nuances that Cullen -- who did not finish below .500 on faceoffs in any of his final 15 NHL seasons -- can offer about various techniques he can use in different situations.
"Going back three or four years ago, I think I was pretty one-dimensional," Blueger said. "I tried to do the same thing every time. It worked pretty well in college and very well in Wilkes(-Barre), I think. Once you get up here, it's tough, because guys are a lot better. They're stronger, smarter."
Mike Sullivan said Blueger has "been very receptive to a guy like Matt Cullen coming in and trying to help him in that aspect of the game," and praised the effort he puts into upgrading every facet of his game.
"Teddy takes a lot of pride in every little detail of his game," Sullivan said. "I know that faceoffs are an area where he knows he wants to improve. ... He's willing to put the work in. He works extremely hard at it, on the ice but also off the ice. He's had a lot of time with one-on-one time with (Cullen)."
MORE FROM PRACTICE
• Sullivan said that skills coach Ty Hennes is in the COVID-19 protocol.
• Center Brian Boyle did not participate in the practice because of what Sullivan characterized as "nagging lower-body stuff" that "could turn into a day-to-day thing." He added that, "it's nothing significant, but we chose to hold him off the ice today." If Boyle can't play against the Sabres, he likely will be replaced on the fourth line by Sam Lafferty, who has one assist in seven appearances this season. "The games I've been able to play, I've felt pretty good about my game," Lafferty said.
• Evgeni Malkin continues to wear a white, no-contact jersey, but was visible throughout the practice. He not only got some reps with the No. 2 power play, but skated a shift or two at left wing on a line with Sidney Crosby and Kasperi Kapanen. Malkin looks, from a strictly performance perspective, as if he is ready to rejoin the lineup, but medical issues are what ultimately will determine when he gets clearance to play. "There's a process that (Malkin) is going through," Sullivan said. "I don't know that it's so much that our medical team needs to see certain things, as much as he's going through a process that we need to see through."
• John Marino, on the impact of the recent surge of COVID-19 cases around the league: "You never want to see things get shut down. They're heading in that direction right now. It was normal for a little, and now we have to go back to restrictions."
• Personnel combinations:
Evan Rodrigues-Sidney Crosby-Kasperi Kapanen
Jason Zucker-Jeff Carter-Danton Heinen
Zach Aston-Reese-Teddy Blueger-Brock McGinn
Drew O'Connor-Sam Lafferty-Dominik Simon
Brian Dumoulin-Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson-John Marino
Mike Matheson-Chad Ruhwedel
Extras: Mark Friedman, Malkin.
• Injured wingers Bryan Rust and Jake Guentzel went through a 45-minute workout with assistant coach Mike Vellucci before the full-team practice. Guentzel, who is believed to have an injured right hand, shot pucks with noticeably more velocity than he did earlier in the week. Vellucci was filling in for Hennes, who usually oversees on-ice sessions for injured players.
