When Mark Friedman was assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on a conditioning stint on Monday, it didn't come as a surprise to the 26-year-old defenseman.
Friedman had played in just one NHL game since mid-November, a Jan. 8 game in Dallas in which he only had 6:44 of ice time, skating as an extra seventh defenseman because the Penguins were short forwards. He and Ron Hextall had been having discussions of the possibility of sending Friedman down on a conditioning stint for a little while, an option that would allow Friedman to spend up to 14 days in the AHL without having to pass through waivers first.
With Wilkes-Barre having a packed schedule this week, including back-to-back games on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Penguins sent Friedman down on Monday to finally get some playing time.
"I felt like I just needed to get some games in and get my timing back in case something happens up in Pittsburgh," Friedman told me on Wednesday after his second game in Wilkes-Barre. "I'm more ready to go after getting a couple games in."
It didn't take long for something to happen up in Pittsburgh.
Friedman was recalled the day after I spoke with him, taking part in the Penguins' warmups as an extra defenseman ahead of Thursday's game against the Devils.
The "something" that happened was an undisclosed upper-body injury to Mike Matheson, with Mike Sullivan announcing Friday that Matheson would be sidelined on a week-to-week basis. It's not clear when or how the injury may have happened.
Matheson's injury marked the first time since mid-November that one of the core six members of the defense corps would miss a game.
With Matheson expected to miss more than a couple of upcoming games, the Penguins also recalled defenseman P.O Joseph from Wilkes-Barre. I would expect both players to get a chance to show what they can do in Matheson's absence over these next few games.
It was Friedman who got the nod first, skating on the left side of the third pairing alongside Chad Ruhwedel in the Penguins' 1-0 shutout win over the Rangers at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday afternoon.
He didn't disappoint.
Friedman played 12:11 in the win, all at even strength, and he and Ruhwedel had exceptional results as a pair. When Friedman was on the ice the Penguins attempted 15 shots and only allowed two, the best on-ice shot attempt differential of any player in the game. That comes despite Friedman and Ruhwedel having the lowest percentage of offensive zone starts of any of the Penguins' defense pairings, with just three offensive zone faceoffs, six in the neutral zone, and four in the defensive zone.
Friedman had a strong game, making a number of plays to help the Penguins regain or maintain possession.
There was a moment midway through the second period where big, 6-foot-4, 227-pound Rangers right wing Julien Gauthier drove the puck into the Penguins' end, muscling his way past Ruhwedel. Friedman, 5-foot-11 and 185 pounds, engaged Gauthier behind the Penguins' net, and helped forced a turnover:
Later that period when the Penguins lost possession of the puck and the Rangers had the potential for an odd-man rush, Friedman shut it down. He had been hovering toward the center of the ice while Ruhwedel was engaged along the boards, and then outraced Barclay Goodrow to the loose puck and chipped it out:
He had another good play a minute later, outracing the Rangers to a loose puck then quickly backhanding it to Danton Heinen. After Heinen sent it back, Friedman then started the breakout with a bank pass off the boards up to Heinen:
Toward the end of that period, Friedman broke up an intended pass from Ryan Strome to Artemi Panarin in the Penguins' end, then sent the puck along the boards and out of the zone:
Friedman is right-handed, but has primarily played on the left side in Pittsburgh. While most right-handed defensemen play on the right side, Friedman's experienced on the left side of the ice, dating back well before he was claimed off waivers by the Penguins.
"Obviously being a righty my right side is preferred," Friedman said in the preseason. "But if playing left means getting an opportunity, then I'll do that and I'll love doing that. I played left for all my years in the AHL and college as well. So I'm very familiar with it, and if I get the opportunity just to get in the lineup I don't care what side it is. I'm gonna get out there and work my hardest and play my best."
Defensemen who are on their off side have their stick facing toward the net rather than along the boards, so that can sometimes be beneficial when it comes to getting shots off. Friedman attempted three shots in the game -- a softer one that registered as a shot on goal, one that just went wide of the net, and this one in the first period that was blocked in front:
Sullivan offered praise after the game when I asked for his impressions of Friedman's play.
"You know, he plays a simple game," Sullivan said. "He's a good defender. He's a good skater. He's a real mobile guy. So he uses his skating ability to win pucks and to defend, and I thought he did a real nice job tonight."
Sullivan and Friedman's teammates have also offered praise for just the way Friedman has handled the challenges this season has presented for him. With the Penguins' core six defensemen healthy for so much of the season and overall playing pretty well, there just hasn't been an opportunity for Friedman to crack the lineup. But when an opportunity does present itself like it did Saturday, he's ready.
"It's not an easy challenge for a player when he's been on the sidelines so to speak, and just trying to keep himself ready," Sullivan said after Friday's practice. "Mark works extremely hard in practice, and he's in great shape."
The Penguins did a fun Q&A video for social media earlier this week, where players were asked to name their hockey idol. John Marino, jokingly, named Friedman as his idol. The praise Marino offered for his fellow defenseman on Saturday was real, though.
"He played really well tonight, him and Ruhdy were great together," Marino said. "He's great to have around the room too, even on the bench. Then he comes in, he handles it well. I mean, it's got to be tough to not play for that long and coming in cold like that. Handling it the way it did, it's pretty impressive."
Tristan Jarry, who posted a 27-save shutout in the win, called Friedman "awesome" in the game.
"He's a great teammate and he comes to practice with a mindset of getting better every day," Jarry said. "He works at it, and I think that just shows when he jumps in the lineup like that. It looks like he hasn't missed a beat, so kudos to him. He played great for us tonight."
With Matheson not expected back anytime soon, Joseph is likely to get a chance to fill that void, too, sometime in the near future. But for now, Friedman made a strong case to have his name in the lineup.
