BUFFALO – Anthony Angello stepped off the ice Friday thinking he had played a pretty solid game. After all, he scored one of the Penguins’ goals in a 4-3 loss to the Boston Bruins at this year’s Prospects Challenge, redirecting a Samuel Poulin shot with a tip so sneaky the scorekeepers here missed it.
Then Mike Vellucci let him know what he thought about his performance.
“We had a talk,” the new Wilkes-Barre/Scranton coach said. “I didn’t think he had a great game [Friday], but I give him a lot of credit. He responded and played a physical game and was smart with the puck and very competitive. And that’s what he has to be. When you’re that big, you have to be competitive.”
The 6-foot-5 forward definitely heard Vellucci’s message loud and clear.
During Saturday’s 2-1 win over the New Jersey team, Angello set the tone early by barging into the Devils crease to create havoc and a scoring chance. In the second period, he powered his way to the go-ahead goal. Later on, he tossed Devils defenseman Michael Vukojevic, listed at 210 pounds, like a Frisbee.
“I went out and tried to impose my will,” said Angello, who is looking to work his way into the call-up conversation for Pittsburgh this season. “That’s something I need to do on a consistent basis — playing harder, playing tough, playing mean.”
That wasn’t always the case last season, Angello’s first as a professional.
The 2014 fifth-round pick, after three seasons playing for Cornell, showed flashes of it. He had 16 goals, 29 points and a plus-17 rating. But Angello too often disappeared for long stretches of games, especially during his second-half swoon.
The 23-year-old admitted Saturday that he didn’t bring it every game.
“The biggest lesson I learned was the consistency aspect,” Angello said. “Whether it’s 3:30 on Saturday or 10 a.m. on a Monday for a kids [promotional] game or 7 p.m. on Friday, you’ve got to be ready to play your best at all times.”
Angello set out this summer to get stronger, particularly in his legs and core, so he could “make an impact and dominate on the ice during the season.”
He trained in Syracuse area, where he’s from, with Vegas forward Alex Tuch and a pair of high-level NHL prospects in Joel Farabee and Thomas Harley.
One area he tried to build up was his glutes. It came in handy Saturday.
With the game tied and the Penguins on a power play, Angello parked off the right post. Three Penguins battled to keep the puck in the zone and it found its way to Angello, who saw he had a 2-on-1 down low and pivoted to the net.
“I put my butt in front of the net and just kind of inched my way forward,” he said. “When the [defender] didn’t step, I decided to make a play to the net.”
With that guy suddenly on his tail, Angello, a righty, pulled the puck across the crease to his backhand then flipped a shot past Devils goalie Akira Schmid.
The power-play goal was his second in as many games, both just outside the crease. Vellucci believes there should be more to come for the 210-pounder.
“He’s got to be around the net. He’s got great hands and a big body,” he said. “I talked to him at our first practice about if he plays the game the right way and listens to me about the power play, he can score a lot of goals down low.”
Angello said Saturday that he thinks playing with physicality is one of his strengths. He quickly corrected himself, saying, “I know it’s one of my strengths.”
While it may take further prodding, Angello has a chance to earn a spot in Pittsburgh if he continues to throw his weight around. The NHL roster features just two forwards — Evgeni Malkin and Nick Bjugstad — taller than 6-foot-1. Bjugstad, a big man but no bully, is the lone forward listed over 210 pounds.
Angello figures to start the season playing for Vellucci down in Wilkes-Barre. But with a pro season under his belt and a little more heft, Angello hopes to make some noise during Penguins training camp, which starts Friday, and the preseason.
“I’m ready to make a statement and make that next push to the NHL,” he said.
Matt Vensel: mvensel@post-gazette.com and Twitter @mattvensel.
First Published: September 8, 2019, 12:40 a.m.