Over the years, the Penguins have featured dozens of foreign-born players representing a virtual smorgasbord of nationalities.
Czechs, Finns, Germans (Tom Kuhnhackl), Italians (Nelson Debenedet), Latvians (Peter Skudra), Lithuanians (Darius Kasparaitis), Poles (Nick Harbaruk), Russians, South Koreans (Jim Paek), Slovaks, Swedes and Ukrainians (Alexei Ponikarovsky) all have sported the skating Penguins logo.
Brits, too (Peter Lee).
Heck, Craig Adams hailed from Brunei Darussalam. Talk about an exotic port of call.
Never in its 50-year history, however, has the club boasted a player from Switzerland. Making newly acquired defenseman Mark Streit a ground-breaker of sorts.
The Pens are hoping the skilled defenseman will have a similar impact on the ice.
A productive and versatile performer who can play forward in a pinch, Streit’s tallied as many as 62 points in a season. A feat he accomplished in 2007-08 for Montreal when he finished third among NHL defensemen in scoring.
After signing a lucrative five-year deal with the Islanders, he struck for a career-best 16 goals in 2008-09 and participated in the NHL All-Star game. As recently as 2014-15, the 5’11” 191-pounder topped the 50-point plateau, a hallmark for modern defensemen.
A (not-so) poor man’s Kevin Shattenkirk, if you will.
Streit didn’t disappoint in his black-and-gold debut against Tampa Bay on Friday night. Sensing an opportunity to join the attack on a delayed penalty, he crept undetected into the left faceoff circle, turned, then glided toward the net. Dusting off a picture-perfect pass from Sidney Crosby, he waited for Lightning goalie Peter Budaj to open up before snapping the puck through the five hole for what proved to be the game winner.
“The coaches told me to be active and jump in if you feel and see the moment, so I try to do that,” Streit said afterward. “Luckily enough, it worked out tonight.”
He helped provide some late-game insurance, too. Manning the right point on the power play, Streit intercepted a loose puck along the boards and alertly reversed it to Crosby in the corner. Sid spied Justin Schultz barging down the slot and slipped him another beautiful pass. Schultz did the rest.
The assist capped a tidy night’s work for Streit, who finished the contest with two points, four shots on goal, and two blocked shots in a shade under 20 minutes of ice time. Not to mention a 5-on-5 shot differential of plus-7, tops among defensemen.
Not surprisingly, the 11-year NHL veteran and former Islanders captain was named second star of the game. He drew some praise from Penguins coach, Mike Sullivan, too.
“He’s just a real smart player,” said an appreciative Sullivan. “I think he’s going to give us a whole other look on the power play that gives us other options.”
Indeed, with his mobility, vision, cool demeanor and adroit puckhandling, Streit’s something of a power-play demon. Nearly half of his 430 career NHL points—203 to be exact—have come with the man advantage. Including 47 power-play goals.
Credit general manager Jim Rutherford for having the foresight and wherewithal to trade for the 39-year-old defender. A move that—when all is said and done—may prove to be the most important deadline deal of them all.
With All-Star Kris Letang on the shelf, one that may ultimately rival the 2009 pickup of Streit’s former Islanders teammate, Bill Guerin, in terms of importance.
Hainsey a Plus
While not as splashy, fellow acquisition Ron Hainsey has been a solid addition to the defense thus far.
In four games with the black and gold, the native of Bolton, Connecticut has logged a ton of ice time (22:17 ATOI) while filling a variety of roles. Hainsey’s blocked 11 shots and registered nine hits, including an earth-shaker the other night that deposited Chicago’s Dennis Rasmussen into the unfriendly confines of the Pens’ bench.
Already a fixture on the penalty kill, the veteran rearguard’s tallied an assist to go with a plus-3 rating.
