The opening goal of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 5-4 home overtime loss to the Utah Mammoth on Dec. 14 was credited to Penguins forward Justin Brazeau.
In reality, he forced a pass to the Utah slot, which Mammoth forward Nick Schmaltz inadvertently deflected into his own net.
Not a pretty play. Quite lucky, actually.
But plenty of determination made it possible.
A few seconds earlier, Mammoth defenseman Mikhail Sergachev tried to fire a puck from his own slot up the left wing into the neutral zone.
But Penguins rookie forward Rutger McGroarty was in sound position and reached out with his stick, deflecting the puck. Linemate Ben Kindel claimed the rebound and then fed the puck across the ice to Brazeau, who proceeded to get the fortunate carrom leading to his goal.
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McGroarty got the secondary assist on the score. But his positionally sound defense that led to the turnover was a greater source of pride.
“Anytime I can get a bump on a guy or get a turnover, that’s the little details that I love to do,” McGroarty said in Cranberry on Dec. 17. “That’s a big part of my game. Whenever I can do that, I’m definitely excited and willing to do that.”
McGroarty, 21, is in his second professional season and the rookie is still a work in progress. That progress was stunted a bit by an offseason injury that kept him sidelined for all of training camp and the preseason as well as the first five-plus weeks of the regular season.
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Following a five-game stint in the American Hockey League with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the second half of November, McGroarty was recalled to the NHL club Dec. 1.
Since then, he has largely been deployed on the left wing of the third line with a handful of assignments on the second line mixed in. Overall, he has appeared in 12 NHL games and posted three points (two goals, one assist) while averaging 12:30 of ice time per contest.
A first-round draft pick (No. 14 overall) of the Winnipeg Jets in 2022, McGroarty acknowledges there is plenty of room for improvement.
“Overall, I’ve liked my game,” McGroarty said. “There’s definitely things I can grow on. First off, just finding better spots on the ice. Finding better areas to get better looks. I’m working really hard and I’m putting myself in good spots. I’ve been really good on the forecheck, good defensively. But I would like to start to generate more offense and start to create more. That will come too. Just overall, the more I play at this level, I feel like my brain adjusts to it. I’m excited to see myself grow and get comfortable on the ice.”
He has largely found comfort in skating on the team’s so-called “Kid Line” with fellow rookies Ben Kindel at center and Ville Koivunen on the right wing.
“We’re all good at different things but we can all mesh together really well,” McGroarty said. “I like a down-low game. Ville really likes the puck control and making really nice plays. And then Ben is kind of a Swiss Army Knife. He does a little bit of everything. Ville can get to the net too and I feel like I can make plays. We can all do a little bit of everything but I would say I’m more the down-low guy. That’s just what I love to do too, is be first on the forecheck, get a body, get a turnover, do my thing down low.
“Those guys are really good with the puck. Getting in open spots for them is huge.”
The base offensive figures haven’t been all that big for the trio. According to Natural Stat Trick, they’ve been on the ice for one goal for and three against during five-on-five play. But the more advanced metrics paint a much more complementary picture.
Shots attempts for and against are very much in their favor (90-52) as are what are defined as scoring chances (39-25).
“At the end of the day, statistics and analytics only say so much,” McGroarty said. “We’ve do got to eventually bear down on our opportunity. Overall, we’ve really dominated some shifts, some games. It’s super exciting to see that three guys can do that. Hopefully, we’re just going to keep getting better and better.”
Defense is something McGroarty seeks to improve. It’s something he routinely cites, even unsolicited, when interviewed.
A native of Lincoln, Neb., McGroarty cited that adherence to defense as being rooted in his time with the United States National Team Development Program (USNTDP).
“I’ve always taken pride in it,” McGroarty said. “(The USNTDP) was really big for me. You’re playing with the 23 other best players in the country. So, you have to impact the game in different ways. In junior hockey, obviously you might not score every game or you might not get a point every game. I definitely take pride in production, but you also have to impact the game in so many different ways. It can lead to more ice time. I’ve always really taken pride in that, but at (USNTDP), it really took off.”
One of McGroarty’s coaches with the USNTDP was Dan Muse, currently head coach of the Penguins.
“For a guy who’s young in this league, he’s been good,” Muse said. “He puts himself in good spots to start. What I mean by that is he’s in good defensive position as he comes into the zone. He has good details to his game. He’s got the ability to close and win some of those puck battles on the wall when we do get stops.
“When he has been out there, he’s done a good job.”
His turnover leading to Brazeau’s goal was a good example of what McGroarty can do defensively. And it’s not just because he has plenty of reach with his 6-foot-1 frame.
“I feel like now that I’ve developed my skating more, I think I use my feet a lot more to defend,” McGroarty said. “And obviously use that reach to my strengths. But I feel like I’ve really been trying to not just lean and reach for pucks. I’ve really been trying to get over pucks more and skate into pucks. Go with my body and not just hope and reach. Obviously, there’s a time where you do have to reach, but I’ve really been trying to defend with my feet more.
“Just trying to contribute in any way possible. Having a really good defensive game, good offensive game and just create energy for the team.”