Ian Cole would be first to admit the last month or so hasn’t been the easiest of his professional career.
But it would be tough to tell from his performance Thursday against the Wild.
Cole, a healthy scratch for seven consecutive games, returned to the lineup against Minnesota in the Penguins’ last game before the All-Star break. He didn’t look like he had missed a step, picking up an assist on Dominik Simon’s opening goal and playing 18:01.
Indications are pointing toward Cole sticking in the lineup for Tuesday night’s game against San Jose. He skated next to Jamie Oleksiak on the third pairing in practice Monday and was off the ice well before Matt Hunwick at Tuesday’s morning skate, usually a sign of inclusion in the lineup.
“I thought [the Minnesota game] was really good,” Cole said. “A lot of good things, turned over a lot of pucks. Didn’t really let up much defensively, and that’s how you get measured.”
The numbers back up Cole’s defensive assessment of his game, too. He had the best Corsi For percentage (CF%) of any Penguins’ defenseman at 72.73, allowing just six shot attempts against when he was on the ice. The Wild also had just two high-danger scoring chances when Cole and Oleksiak were out there, according to NaturalStatTrick.com.
Cole said while he obviously hopes to stick around in the lineup, his success came because he wasn’t entirely focused on earning his spot back on every single shift.
“You certainly want to play well, but the more you try to force things, the more it tends to work against you,” Cole said. “Just kind of letting the game come to you and, like I said, for lack of a better descriptor, keep it simple.”
Moving forward, Cole still seems to be on the fringe of the Penguins’ lineup along the blue line, straddling the line between sixth and seventh defenseman. Conventional NHL wisdom says it takes more than six defensemen to win a Stanley Cup — look at last year’s Penguins for evidence — but that doesn’t necessarily make it any easier for the seventh guy, especially if it’s a veteran such as Cole (who also happens to be playing for a free-agent contract this summer). Mike Sullivan said he and the staff tries to find roles for everybody on the roster, but at the end of the day, players also have to accept those given responsibilities.
“Our hope is that we put players in positives where they can play to their strengths, and we put players in positions where they can be successful,” Sullivan said. “The reality is there’s only so many minutes to go around. We’re going to make those decisions accordingly, in order to help this team win, and that’s our sole motivation.
“But I think an important aspect of becoming a team in the true sense of the word is when players are accepting of roles and they embrace those and they pride themselves in their contribution to helping this team win.”
Buzz back home
Dominik Simon shared a team and line with Jaromir Jagr while playing for their native Czech Republic in the 2015 World Championships. With Jagr heading home to the Kladno Knights, the team he owns, Simon said there’s considerable buzz among fans for the 45-year-old NHL legend.
“Everybody’s excited to see him,” Simon said. “People are buying tickets from all over Czech Republic to see him. It’s going to be fun.”
Comparing Jagr popularity in the Czech Republic to a prominent U.S. athlete, Simon said it’s absolutely accurate to throw around names such as Tom Brady or LeBron James.
“I don’t think there’s a bigger guy than him,” Simon said.
Simon said he and Jagr have had a few conversations — mostly about hockey — and he was hopeful Jagr would recognize him if they walked down the same hallway.
“I hope so,” Simon said. “We played together. I was the youngest guy. He was the oldest. It’s not like we were going to bars together, but it was nice. He helped me a lot. … It was a great experience.”
Letang trending upward
As the Penguins head down the home stretch toward the playoffs, one of the biggest story lines will be whether or not Kris Letang can bounce back from an up-and-down first half of the season.
Put Sullivan firmly in the “yes” camp.
Sullivan said the Penguins knew it would be “an adjustment process” as Letang returned from neck surgery that kept him out most of last season. But despite inconsistent play over the first 51 games, Sullivan sees Letang’s arrow pointing up.
“I think Tanger’s shown signs of capturing his elite game and there’s been levels of inconsistency throughout the first part of the season, but we think that there’s some traction there,” Sullivan said. “We think he’s improving with every game that he plays.
“He might have a couple of really solid games and then have one that he’d like to be better in, for example. But we still believe that he’s trending the right way.”
Back in action
The Penguins have typically been pretty successful under Sullivan when they return from longer layoffs, as they will Tuesday in their first game back from the All-Star break. Under Sullivan, the Penguins are 7-0 in games following Christmas breaks, All-Star breaks and “bye” weeks. They’ve won those games by a combined 33-17.
“It’s a little bit weird trying to get back into the swing of things, but I think we’ve done a good job having a well-paced practice beforehand to kind of get the legs back into it,” Cole said. “Then really, it’s just trying to get back to the game that we were playing before as quickly as possible.”
Sam Werner: swerner@post-gazette.com and Twitter @SWernerPG; Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG
First Published: January 30, 2018, 5:50 p.m.