It didn't take long for Penguins fans to miss whipping boy Jack Johnson. In fact, in Johnson's place the fans had two defensemen to boo, albeit in the privacy of their own TV rooms.
Both Mike Matheson and Cody Ceci often looked lost, often playing together, in the first two games in Philadelphia. Then Matheson got hurt and when all the other left-handed shooting defensemen did, too, Ceci found himself paired with a litany of other D-men, most of them also right-handed shooters.
But a funny thing has happened since Matheson returned to the line-up three games ago. It looks like those two are going to be okay, after all.
With Ceci, it actually happened a couple of games before that. He logged nearly 25-minutes and was a plus-2 in the 5-4 win over the Rangers – the game that Kris Letang left early. In the games since, Ceci has played with more confidence.
Ditto for Matheson, who had some rough moments in his first game back after missing 8 straight - a 4-3 loss to the Islanders– but has looked noticeably better in the last two games, both wins.
Mike Sullivan suggests that maybe it was only a matter of time. "I'm sure it's a number of things, but I'm sure familiarity is a big part of it," Sullivan says, "they're getting more comfortable with their surroundings, with their teammates, with the coaching staff."
And, finally, it appears that familiarity is showing up in games. "They're also getting more familiar with how we're trying to play and some of the details associated with our team game and it allows them to play more instinctively and not have to think as much." Sullivan adds. "That's when players are at their best, when they're trusting their instincts."
We certainly saw that in the last game against the Capitals when Matheson read Sidney Crosby for a give-and-go and slid a pass onto Bryan Rust's stick for an easy tap-in.
Matheson has also benefitted from being paired with John Marino although the argument can be made that Matheson's improvement has helped Marino just as much.
Ceci, meanwhile, has mostly played with Chad Ruhwedel but, when Marcus Pettersson returns (which could be as soon as tonight), he will probably have to learn a new partner. However, being paired with the left-handed shooting Pettersson should help in that regard.
As the Penguins know all too well this season, defensive pairings are always an injury away from getting reshuffled. But, after a rough first few weeks, it's looking like neither Matheson nor Ceci will become the next Jack Johnson.
