PHILADELPHIA — Looking at the NHL playoff points leaders, most of the top performers are the names you would expect. Boston’s David Pastrnak leading the way, Sidney Crosby right behind him.
But just a touch below them — tied for fifth with the likes of Artemi Panarin, Patrice Bergeron and Jake Guentzel — is a name even the most optimistic Penguins fans probably wouldn’t have predicted:
Brian Dumoulin.
With five points through three postseason games, Dumoulin leads Penguins defensemen and is tied for second among all NHL blue-liners.
He had three assists through the first two games in Pittsburgh, and got his first goal of these playoffs in the second period of the Penguins’ 5-1 Game 3 win Sunday afternoon in Philadelphia. He also recorded an assist on Crosby’s opening goal.
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“Dumo, he’s a real valuable player for us,” Mike Sullivan said. “He’s a very important player for us. We rely on him in so many situations. He plays against the other team’s top players, he’s a very good defending defenseman. He uses his mobility extremely well, he’s got a good stick. And then when he has the ability to help us with the offense, I think it’s a big bonus for us.”
Dumoulin’s offensive game has clearly taken a step forward this season. Before this year, he was mostly known for having more goals in the playoffs than the regular season. But he found the back of the net five times in 2017-18, to put up a career-high 18 points.
Once the postseason started, though, Dumoulin made it clear he still has a bit of a clutch gene. He has at least one point in all three of the Penguins’ postseason games, one game away from tying his longest point streak of the regular season.
“I think the forwards are doing a great job of working for us [defensemen],” he said. “They come back in, give us options and we’re moving the puck, spending less time in our zone. I think with that, our forwards are doing a great job helping us out and getting to the net, creating second opportunities.”
Sunday’s goal was a product of Dumoulin doing his part to support the forwards. After Sidney Crosby won a faceoff forward and chipped the puck to himself, Dumoulin saw the opportunity to join the offense.
“Dumo made a great read to jump in the play there and give us some numbers on the rush,” Crosby said.
Once he got the puck, he didn’t hesitate, firing a shot in on Flyers goalie Brian Elliott. Dumoulin said he wasn’t necessarily trying to score, but just create offense around the net.
“Obviously sometimes we’ve passed up too many shots,” he said. “As they say, no shot’s a bad shot. Just try to put pucks on the net. I knew I had guys going there. Right now, that’s one of our keys. When we have good forward drive and get pucks to the net, it creates scrums and we’re spending time in the ‘O’ zone. So we’ve got to continue to do that.”
According to Dumoulin’s regular defense partner Kris Letang — someone who knows a few things about being an offensive defenseman — that play is emblematic of how Dumoulin can be dangerous from a scoring perspective.
“I think the last few years, his confidence has been growing,” Letang said. “I always thought he’s a really good skater. He’s able to get open and I think that’s how he’s going to create offense now, with his legs, jumping in the rush, creating opportunities for himself.”
Sullivan, too, sees room for growth in Dumoulin’s offensive game. Like most of the Penguins’ core, it’s easy to forget how young he is at just 26 years old. He probably won’t always keep up with the likes of Laine and Kucherov, but there’s some potential there.
“He’s another guy on our roster that’s still a young guy,” Sullivan said. “He has so much upside in his overall, two-way game, and I think you saw it tonight. He’s always a solid defending defenseman for us, but when he can help us with the offense and jump in at the right times, I think that makes our team that much better.”
Sam Werner: swerner@post-gazette.com and Twitter @SWernerPG
UPDATE: A previous version of this story said Dumoulin had four playoff points. He was given a secondary assist on Sidney Crosby’s opening goal Sunday. Dumoulin now has five playoff points, tied for fifth in the NHL.
First Published: April 16, 2018, 2:52 p.m.
