When Brandon Sutter arrived in Pittsburgh via trade from the Carolina Hurricanes, playoff hockey was nothing more than a pipe dream. By the time he left, it was an expectation.
Tuesday won’t be the first time Sutter has played in Pittsburgh as a member of the opposing team, but it will be his first game here as a Vancouver Canuck, after a widely expected trade in July 2015 that netted the Penguins Nick Bonino.
Sutter said he’s game hasn’t changed a ton since his Pittsburgh days. He’s still reliable in his own end, can win some faceoffs, pitch in occasionally on the offensive end and kill penalties.
What Sutter has now that he didn’t have back in Carolina, though, is perspective.
“When I was in Pittsburgh, it was my first time in a really competitive environment, where we’re playing playoffs,” Sutter said. “I think you gain so much experience with that. I really became a better player through that. That has helped me down the road here now. I brought that same game here to Vancouver. It’s fit in well. I’ve really enjoyed myself here. I like our group. We’re battling right now. It’s been fun.”
Sutter was banged up in Buffalo Sunday and remains a game-time decision with an undisclosed injury. He did take the morning skate Tuesday at PPG Paints Arena and seemed encouraged by how he felt.
“I just kind of tweaked something a little bit, but it’s just another one of the bumps and bruises we go through,” Sutter said. “Not really anything to worry about too much. We’ll see how it feels.”
Today is Sutter’s birthday. As a gift, his wife, Giselle, sent him and the team a couple boxes of doughnuts from Peace, Love and Little Donuts on Smallman Street — their old go-to for doughnuts.
While Sutter insisted they’d save those for after the game, stopping the Penguins and good friend Sidney Crosby could make them taste a lot sweeter.
“Yeah, he can wait,” Sutter joked about Crosby’s pursuit of 1,000 career points.
“It’s a little more fun when you’re on his team than playing against him,” Sutter said. “Hopefully tonight we can find a way to shut him down.”
Sort of how the Penguins were shut down in the 2013 Eastern Conference final against the Bruins, a memory Sutter relived on Tuesday.
After beating the Islanders and Senators, the Penguins scored two goals in four games against the Bruins, all losses.
“It got cold quick,” Sutter said. “We had a tough first round against the Islanders that year. We really battled them. Then Ottawa. We outplayed them pretty good.
“After that, we just couldn’t score goals, seemed like.”
Not that Sutter left Pittsburgh with any bad memories. Crosby and the others he played with who remain, he said, are some of his best friends, and he hoped to see them at some point Tuesday.
The biggest thing, though, is playing well, which the Penguins did down the stretch last season.
Sutter noticed.
“Looking back, that first year I was here, we went to the conference finals and lost to Boston,” Sutter said. “You’re so close to going to the Finals. The next year, getting in the second round, three games to one and lose, looking back on those, those are chances that you wish you would have taken advantage of.
“The biggest thing for them is they got hot at the right time of the year. From March 1 on, they were almost unbeatable. It just goes to show you that timing is kind of everything there.”
Megna reconnects
Before the Penguins morning skate started, Canucks winger and former Penguin Jayson Megna took turns hugging his old Wilkes-Barre/Scranton teammates: Scott Wilson, Brian Dumoulin, Tom Kuhnhackl, Matt Murray and on and on.
It’s the first time he’s seen them since leaving as a free agent two years ago.
Like Sutter, Megna followed the Cup run this past spring. And while he was a little bit bummed he wasn’t a part of this group, he was happy for those guys.
“To see all those guys you played with growing up through the pipeline with in the AHL was a cool thing,” Megna said. “At the same time, I wish I was part of that.”
Given some additional opportunity, Megna has fared well in Vancouver, with four goals in 37 games. It’s not going to place him in the Hart Trophy discussion, but it’s certainly a start.
“I think I’ve matured just by playing games and being around guys that have a little bit more experience in the league,” Megna said. “I think I’ve gained more of a confidence in my every day game and knowing exactly what I need to do within the game to be successful. If I don’t get points, I still need to impact the game in a positive way. I’ve found different ways to be able to do that.”
Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.
First Published: February 14, 2017, 7:16 p.m.