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WASHINGTON -- Kyle Dubas said in his press conference on the eve of the season opener that what he always admired about the Penguins was their "team toughness."
"I've always observed the Penguins from the outside," Dubas said. "So whenever there's something that happens in a game, they attack it as a group. It's team toughness. There's not an enforcer, per se. But you know you're not going to get away with anything against them, even if the team is a little bit bigger, and a little bit more physical, that they're going to stand up for themselves. I think Sid embodies that most, unsurprisingly."
He said that Sidney Crosby's preseason fight against the Sabres' Peyton Krebs "set the tone" for how the Penguins handle such situations. Krebs laid out Kris Letang with a hit behind the net, and Crosby didn't hesitate to step up, even though he's not the guy you'd expect to see dropping the gloves ... especially in a preseason game.
That "team toughness" was again on display from another unlikely source to cap the Penguins' 4-0 win over the Capitals on this Friday night at Capital One Center.
There were 25 seconds remaining in the game, and Noel Acciari took an errant puck to the head and was down on the ice. It looked scary in the moment, though Mike Sullivan provided the update afterward that Acciari was 'OK.' And while Acciari was being tended to on the ice, Tom Wilson came at Marcus Pettersson with crosschecks.
That's 6-foot-4, 220-pound Wilson, and the 6-foot-3, 177-pound Pettersson. That's a slight size difference.
Pettersson didn't shy away from dropping the gloves, and managed to at least protect himself and stay on his feet in the brief encounter:
— DK Pittsburgh Sports (@DKPSvideos) October 14, 2023
"I saw him coming, so I figured I had to get my gloves off and be ready for it," Pettersson told me in a one-on-one chat about the fight after the game. "You know, he's a tough guy. I just tried to protect myself."
And how did he think he handled himself in the fight?
"I didn't die, so, that's a plus," Pettersson said, very much still alive.
Running the tape back further, it's clear that Wilson's reason for targeting Pettersson was an errant elbow thrown Wilson's way just before.
"He can run people, but he doesn't like it himself," Pettersson said. "It's whatever."
Pettersson is not a frequent fighter, but he doesn't shy away from it. That was Pettersson's eighth career NHL fight per the HockeyFights.com database, and his dance card shows a list of opponents that typically are prototypical tough guys, often with quite a bit of size on him. Last season's bout against the Flyers' 6-foot-1, 220-pound Nic Deslauriers comes to mind.
What's the deal with fighting all the heavyweights?
"I don't know what it is," Pettersson chuckled. "I always seem to get in those situations. I feel like you've got to at least be able to protect yourself. I seem to have gotten myself in quite a few situations like that. I wouldn't say I'm a fighter, so I don't know why."
Pettersson's not a fighter, no. No chance of him ever becoming much of a regular one, either, barring a 50-pound or so weight gain in the near future.
Whether it's Crosby's preseason fight against a kid 14 years his junior in defense of Letang, or Petterson holding his own against one of the league's premier "tough guys" in defense of himself, it's all evidence of what Dubas said he saw in this team before he took over, and why he knew he didn't need to add a dedicated enforcer in the offseason.
This team doesn't let itself get pushed around.
More must-reads:
- Stanley Cup playoffs: Who, what everyone is talking about in the Western Conference
- Three takeaways as Bruins force Game 6 to keep season alive
- The 'Super Bowl starting QBs' quiz
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