MONTREAL — Jeff Petry knows what to expect when he takes to the Bell Center ice Monday night for his first time as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
After eight seasons in a Montreal Canadiens uniform – the formative years of his NHL career and most of them the best he’s enjoyed at this level – he knows he’ll get a warm welcome. from the crowd before getting booed every time he touches the ball. puck, and he’s fine with that.
“That’s usually how it goes,” he said after taking part in the Penguins’ optional morning practice, “and that’s kind of what I think is going to happen.”
“It was a special place to play,” added Petry before saying he was both nervous and excited to do it as a member of the Penguins.
The 34-year-old defender is also happy to make it just three games into the season.
He made a big impression during his short stint with the Penguins, skating about 22 minutes in each of Pittsburgh’s early-season wins over the Arizona Coyotes and Tampa Bay Lightning. Petry picked up an assist against the Coyotes and was named player of the game by captain Sidney Crosby, and coach Mike Sullivan said Monday he delivered what he hoped for when the organization traded Mike Matheson and a fourth-round picks for him and Ryan. Poehling last summer.
“Well, what we learned was that he’s an elite player, and that’s what we were hoping to achieve,” Sullivan said. “He helps us on both sides of the puck. He’s big and strong in front of our net, he defends well, he helps us on the penalty kill, we’ve played him in our top four and he plays an important role in all situations. He’s just a very strong defenseman on both sides of the puck, and that’s what we were hoping for, and he certainly lived up to all of our expectations.
Falling well short of the Nobles last season in Montreal changed the way Petry was received by Canadiens fans.
He went from the object of their adulation to the object of their ire for many nights following a door stumble that saw his game drop significantly from what it had been for three seasons. consecutive careers.
Petry was limited to zero points in 25 of his first 27 games, only scored his first goal in game 28, and he has nothing to do with the player who ritually went over 40 points.
In early January, the Michigan native requested a trade for personal reasons, and he came under increasing heat from the fans as he struggled to find his game and that request went public.
“You don’t want to see anyone go through things like that,” Montreal’s Cole Caufield said Monday, “but I hope the fans really recognize him tonight because he’s done a lot for this team and played an important role in our success. in the 2021 Cup final. I think the fans know that and will give him a warm welcome.
The 21-year-old winger said Petry was like a big brother to him and 23-year-old captain Nick Suzuki, often inviting the two to dinner with his wife and four children.
“He was awesome for me,” Suzuki said. “Just kind of an older guy who took a lot of young people under his wing.”
Jordan Harris, who joined the Canadiens late last season to play 10 games after finishing his college career at Northeastern, said he learned a lot from Petry, who rebounded under coach Martin St. Louis with four goals and 20 points from Feb. 13-April 29.
“He’s a great defender,” said the 22-year-old. “When I think of Jeff, I see some of those games where he could skate all the way down the sheet and be the first guy all the way back. He was also such a professional. He treated his body well.
“He taught me a lot about how to play and how to act, and I think it will be special for him to be back here.”
It was there that Petry established himself as a successful player after five eventful seasons with the Edmonton Oilers. He played his most important role in the league in the absence of the often injured Shea Weber – averaging more than 23 minutes per game, often playing close to 30 and facing the NHL’s best forwards every night.
“I just think about how from the day I got here, I think my time here has been really good for me,” Petry said. “If you look at the pattern of my career, I developed and became the player that I am. A lot of that was my time here. And looking at some of the teams that we had and the team achievements that we did, it was a special moment here.
That was from day one, when Petry was traded from the Oilers for a second-round pick and fifth conditional at the 2015 trade deadline.
He made the first of four solid playoff contributions to help the Canadiens to the 2015 Eastern Conference Finals, then signed a six-year, $33 million deal to stay in Montreal.
It was after Petry scored two goals and three points and helped the Canadiens beat the Penguins and pick up a few wins after eliminating the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2020 bubble playoffs that he signed a contract for $25 million over four years. to start the 2021-22 season. He then posted six points, played with dislocated fingers and played a huge role in bringing the Canadiens within three wins of dethroning the Lightning for the 2021 Cup.
Mental exhaustion and physical issues prevented Petry from delivering to start Year 1 of his new contract. As he struggled and the Canadiens plummeted in the standings, the disconnect between Petry and coach Dominique Ducharme became public knowledge.
After the Canadiens lost 6-2 to the Penguins to extend a winless streak to 0-6-1, Petry said, “It looks like there’s no structure there” and was strongly criticized for calling Ducharme.
Things evolved from there, with his trade request becoming public and his game failing to reach the high level he had set over the years in Montreal.
“It’s been a shitty year for everyone,” Suzuki said. “I think Petey was more in the media spotlight with the fans and all that, but in the room he was the same guy, very helpful and a great leader for everyone. So I think it was a different reaction for fans, but here he was still the same Jeff.
He echoed Caufield’s comments, saying he hopes Petry will be well received by fans attending Monday’s game.
Unfortunately for Petry, his wife, Julie, and four sons, Boyd, Barrett, Bowen and Blake, will not be among them. They will watch from afar, unable to make it to the Bell Center for this game.
But Petry said they plan to be there when the Penguins return in three weeks.
Poehling is hoping to make the roster for that one, and he’ll also skate in his first game at the Bell Center on Monday since going 12:17 in a win over the Florida Panthers in Montreal’s last game. last season.
The 23-year-old, who was drafted 25th overall by the Canadiens in 2017, started well, helping the Penguins control 58% of shot attempts when on the ice at 5-5 and winning 61, 5 per hundred face-offs he has made.
“Ryan has been terrific,” Sullivan said. “One of our role players, our supporting cast, so to speak, playing in our last six. He’s been good on the penalty kill, he’s won a lot of faceoffs for us. He’s been really good at the face-off circle. I think he’s getting more comfortable every day as he familiarizes himself with certain details of how we try to play and so I think his game is becoming more instinctive as familiar with our team concept and all those details. He fits in really well for us. He skates well, he has a good build, he’s a conscientious player, he has a good position and it’s another guy that we think he can play the type of game that we’re trying to play with, he can fill the role that we hoped he would fill when we acquired him, but he also, I think, has some dimensions to grow offensively and otherwise.
“These two guys have integrated very well into our team.”
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