It seems to be more and more common that the Penguins play without one of their two superstar centers. For most of the past two years they were without Sidney Crosby, and for some parts of that time they were even without Evgeni Malkin. Well once again they will be without the services of Malkin who is out for one to two weeks and an apparent “upper body” injury.
This opens the door for the quality center that the Penguins got over the summer in a trade that sent Jordan Staal to the Carolina Hurricanes. That quality center would be Brandon Sutter, and it is not time for him to step up and play quality minutes in Malkin’s absence.
Sutter has been pretty good so far as the team’s third line center, and how is his time to really show what he can do in the offensive zone. Sutter has six goals and five assists so far this season, and his role is set to expand you have to believe. I don’t see Dustin Jeffrey getting all those minutes that Malkin played; I believe some will be given to Crosby and some to Sutter.
Of late Sutter has been playing very well, and has played some of his best games in that last couple of weeks. He probably played his best game in a Penguins uniform against Montreal on March 2nd. In that game he played 17 minutes, scored a powerplay goal, and the game winner in overtime. On that game winner he made a nice move to get past a defender and the just ripped a wrist shot over the glove-hand of Carey Price. That was a game that the team played without Malkin and he showed that he can kind of fill the void.
Sutter could play a vital role in getting the Penguins back to the Stanley Cup Finals. But for right now he has the chance to show everyone that he can produce and be more than a shut-down centerman a the NHL level. He has the skill and ability to be a second line guy, but he likes being the third line center and out of the spotlight on this team.
