Newcomer Streit on the mark in debut to lift Penguins
After the Penguins' dressing room cleared out following a 5-2 win over Tampa Bay Friday at PPG Paints Arena, Sergei Gonchar strolled in and went over to shake the hand of his newest pupil, Mark Streit.
Gonchar goes by the title of “Defensemen Coach” these days, but at the age of 42, he still possesses enough skill and skating ability to possibly hang with the 39-year-old Streit on the ice — at least for a few minutes.
Whether the former Penguins defenseman, a key piece of the team's rise to perennial Stanley Cup contender almost a decade ago, needs to impart any new wisdom on Streit, a potentially valuable asset in the push for a championship this season, will become known in the next few weeks.
Streit earned his first gold star from the Penguins — or rather, the gold batting helmet teammates award to their player of the game — with his debut performance, as he scored the winner and earned an assist on Justin Schultz's insurance goal during 19 minutes, 31 seconds of ice time.
The batting helmet went to Streit despite a two-goal, three-point performance from Evgeni Malkin and two-point performances from Sidney Crosby, Phil Kessel and Schultz.
“I guess a lot of the forwards, they see the ice so well, so I try to get open for them,” said Streit, who entered the game with 428 points in 765 previous regular-season appearances. “(Jumping into the play) doesn't work all of the time. But I think it creates offense. It helps out the forwards. You've just got to it the smart way. But the coaches told me (Thursday) to be active and jump in if you feel and see the moment, so I try to do that. Luckily enough, it worked out tonight.”
After a somewhat sleepy start, the Penguins jumped all over their opponent in the final two periods. Streit, acquired from the Lightning just before Wednesday's 3 p.m. trade deadline and about an hour after Tampa Bay took the veteran blue liner from Philadelphia, served as the Penguins' most dynamic two-way threat, a fortunate development on a night in which they lacked proven puck-movers Kris Letang (upper-body injury) and Trevor Daley (knee).
With Streit on the ice, the Penguins registered 18 shot attempts and allowed just 11 during five-on-five action. No defenseman had a better shot-attempt differential than Streit's plus-7.
“You can see his hockey sense,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “He's a real smart player. He's very positionally sound. You can tell he's played a lot of years in the league. He's just a real smart player. Because of that, I think his energy is spent in an efficient manner. … I think he's going to give us a whole other look on the power play that gives us other options. I think he's going to bring a lot to our team.”
Sullivan frequently applies the adjective “efficient” to descriptions of Letang. “Smart” and “positionally sound” are attributes most frequently attached to Brian Dumoulin and Olli Maatta, who remains out with a hand injury. Praise for power-play decisions and a willingness to jump in the rush, which Streit also received, often go to Daley and Schultz.
But Streit believes his blend of speed, smarts and savvy are best used as complements to the playmaking abilities of Malkin and Crosby, who combined their efforts to set up the veteran defenseman's winning goal 2:38 into the third period.
Crosby jumped onto the ice as an extra attack after a delayed penalty call and fed Streit in the slot. Malkin created the opportunity for Crosby to join the play by possessing the puck for several seconds in traffic.
“It's way easier,” Streit said of playing with Malkin and Crosby versus against them, as he did for years in Philadelphia and with the New York Islanders. “There's so many great players on this team. A lot of skill. And everybody works hard on the defensive side and works for each other. You get the save when you need it. It's a really good team. I was really impressed.”
Bill West is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at wwest@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BWest_Trib.
